Hobson-Jobson

1552.—"That the Chinese (Chijs) were masters of the Choromandel Coast, of part of Malabar, and of this Island of Ceylon, we have not only the assertion of the Natives of the latter, but also evidence in the buildings, names, and language that they left in it ... and because they were in the vicinity of this Cape Galle, the other people who lived from the middle of the Island upwards called those dwelling about there Chingálla, and their language the same, as much as to say the language, or the people of the Chins of Galle."—Barros, III. ii. 1.

1583.—(The Cauchin Chineans) "are of the race of the Chingalays, which they say are the best kinde of all the Malabars."—Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 397.

1598.—"... inhabited with people called Cingalas...."—Linschoten, 24; [Hak. Soc. i. 77; in i. 81, Chingalas].

c. 1610.—"Ils tiennent donc que ... les premiers qui y allerent, et qui les peuplerent (les Maldives) furent ... les Cingalles de l'Isle de Ceylan."—Pyrard de Laval, i. 185; [Hak. Soc. i. 105, and see i. 266].

1612.—Couto, after giving the same explanation of the word as Barros, says: "And as they spring from the Chins, who are the falsest heathen of the East ... so are they of this island the weakest, falsest, and most tricky people in all India, insomuch that, to this day, you never find faith or truth in a Chingalla."—V. i. 5.

1681.—"The Chingūleys are naturally a people given to sloth and laziness: if they can but anyways live, they abhor to work."...—Knox, 32.

SINGAPORE, SINCAPORE, n.p. This name was adopted by Sir Stamford Raffles in favour of the city which he founded, February 23, 1819, on the island which had always retained the name since the Middle Ages. This it derived from Siṉhapura, Skt. 'Lion-city,' the name of a town founded by Malay or Javanese settlers from Sumatra, probably in the 14th century, and to which Barros ascribes great commercial importance. The Indian origin of the name, as of many other names and phrases which survive from the old Indian civilisation of the Archipelago, had been forgotten, and the origin which Barros was taught to ascribe to it is on a par with his etymology of Singalese quoted in the preceding article. The words on which his etymology is founded are no doubt Malay: singah, 'to tarry, halt, or lodge,' and pora-pora, 'to pretend'; and these were probably supposed to refer to the temporary occupation of Sinhapura, before the chiefs who founded it passed on to Malacca. [It may be noted that Dennys (Desc. Dict. s.v.) derives the word from singha, 'a place of call,' and pura, 'a city.' In Dalboquerque's Comm. Hak. Soc. iii. 73, we are told: "Singapura, whence the city takes its name, is a channel through which all the shipping of those parts passes, and signifies in his Malay language, 'treacherous delay.'" See quotation from Barros below.]

The settlement of Hinduized people on the site, if not the name, is probably as old as the 4th century, A.D., for inscriptions have been found there in a very old character. One of these, on a rock at the mouth of the little river on which the town stands, was destroyed some 40 or 50 years ago for the accommodation of some wretched bungalow.

The modern Singapore and its prosperity form a monument to the patriotism, sagacity, and fervid spirit of the founder. According to an article in the Geogr. Magazine (i. 107) derived from Mr. Archibald Ritchie, who was present with the expedition which founded the colony, Raffles, after consultation with Lord Hastings, was about to establish a settlement for the protection and encouragement of our Eastern trade, in the Nicobar Islands, when his attention was drawn to the superior advantages of Singapore by Captains Ross and Crawford of the Bombay Marine, who had been engaged in the survey of those seas. Its great adaptation for a mercantile settlement had been discerned by the shrewd, if somewhat vulgar, Scot, Alexander Hamilton, 120 years earlier. It seems hardly possible, we must however observe, to reconcile the details in the article cited, with the letters and facts contained in the Life of Raffles; though probably the latter had, at some time or other, received information from the officers named by Mr. Ritchie.

1512.—"And as the enterprise was one to make good booty, everybody was delighted to go on it, so that they were more than 1200 men, the soundest and best armed of the garrison, and so they were ready incontinently, and started for the Strait of Cincapura, where they were to wait for the junks."—Correa, ii. 284-5.

1551.—"Sed hactenus Deus nobis adsit omnibus. Amen. Anno post Christum natum, MDLI. Ex Freto Syncapurano."—Scti. Franc. Xaverii Epistt. Pragae, 1667, Lib. III. viii.

1553.—"Anciently the most celebrated settlement in this region of Malaca was one called Cingapura, a name which in their tongue means 'pretended halt' (falsa dimora); and this stood upon a point of that country which is the most southerly of all Asia, and lies, according to our graduation, in half a degree of North Latitude ... before the foundation of Malaca, at this same Cingapura ... flocked together all the navigators of the Seas of India from West and East...."—Barros, II. vi. 1. [The same derivation is given in the Comm. of Dalboquerque, Hak. Soc. iii. 73.]

1572.—

"Mas na ponta da terra Cingapura

Verás, onde o caminho as naos se estreita;

Daqui, tornando a costa á Cynosura,

Se incurva, e para a Aurora se endireita."

Camões, x. 125.

"But on her Lands-end throned see Cingapúr,

where the wide sea-road shrinks to narrow way:

Thence curves the coast to face the Cynosure,

and lastly trends Aurora-wards its lay."

1598.—"... by water the coast stretcheth to the Cape of Singapura, and from thence it runneth upwards [inwards] againe...."—Linschoten, 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 101].

1599.—"In this voyage nothing occurred worth relating, except that, after passing the Strait of Sincapura, situated in one degree and a half, between the main land and a variety of islands ... with so narrow a channel that from the ship you could jump ashore, or touch the branches of the trees on either side, our vessel struck on a shoal."—Viaggi di Carletti, ii. 208-9.

1606.—"The 5th May came there 2 Prows from the King of Johore, with the Shahbander (Shabunder) of Singapoera, called Siri Raja Nagara...."—Valentijn, v. 331.

1616.—"Found a Dutch man-of-war, one of a fleet appointed for the siege of Malaca, with the aid of the King of Acheen, at the entrance of the Straits of Singapore."—Sainsbury, i. 458.

1727.—"In anno 1703 I called at Johore on my Way to China, and he treated me very kindly, and made me a Present of the Island of Sincapure, but I told him it could be of no use to a private Person, tho' a proper Place for a Company to settle a Colony in, lying in the Center of Trade, and being accommodated with good Rivers and safe Harbours, so conveniently situated that all Winds served Shipping, both to go out and come in."—A. Hamilton, ii. 98; [ed. 1744, ii. 97].

1818.—"We are now on our way to the eastward, in the hope of doing something, but I much fear the Dutch have hardly left us an inch of ground.... My attention is principally turned to Johore, and you must not be surprised if my next letter to you is dated from the site of the ancient city of Singapura."—Raffles, Letter to Marsden, dated Sandheads, Dec. 12.

[1759.—"... there is no separation between your Honour ... and this Sircar...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, ii. 129.]

1800.—"Would it not be possible and proper to make people pay the circar according to the exchange fixed at Seringapatam?"—Wellington, i. 60.

[1866.—"... the Sirkar Buhadoor gives me four rupees a month...."—Confessions of an Orderly, 43.]

1777.—"There is not in any country in the world, of which I have any knowledge, a more pernicious race of vermin in human shape than are the numerous cast of people known in Bengal by the appellation of Sircars; they are educated and trained to deceive."—Price's Tracts, i. 24.

1810.—"The Sircar is a genius whose whole study is to handle money, whether receivable or payable, and who contrives either to confuse accounts, when they are adverse to his view, or to render them most expressively intelligible, when such should suit his purpose."—Williamson, V.M. i. 200.

1822.—"One morning our Sircar, in answer to my having observed that the articles purchased were highly priced, said, 'You are my father and my mother, and I am your poor little child. I have only taken 2 annas in the rupee dustoorie'" (dustoor).—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 21-22.

1834.—"'And how the deuce,' asked his companion, 'do you manage to pay for them?' 'Nothing so easy,—I say to my Sirkar: 'Baboo, go pay for that horse 2000 rupees, and it is done, Sir, as quickly as you could dock him.'"—The Baboo and Other Tales, i. 13.

c. 1590.—"In the fortieth year of his majesty's reign, his dominions consisted of 105 Sircars, subdivided into 2737 kusbahs" (cusba), "the revenue of which he settled for ten years at 3 Arribs, 62 Crore, 97 Lacks, 55,246 Dams" (q.v. 3,62,97,55,246 dāms = about 9 millions sterling).—Ayeen, E.T. by Gladwin, 1800, ii. 1; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 115.]

[c. 1610.—"... a captain of a company, or, as they call it, a Sardare."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 254.

[1675.—"Sardar." See under SEPOY.]

1808.—"I, with great difficulty, knocked up some of the villagers, who were nearly as much afraid as Christie's Will, at the visit of a Sirdār" (here an officer).—Life of Leyden.

[c. 1817.—"... the bearers, with their Sirdaur, have a large room with a verandah before it."—Mrs. Sherwood, Last Days of Boosy, 63.]

1826.—"Gopee's father had been a Sirdar of some consequence."—Pandurang Hari, 174; [ed. 1873, i. 252].

SIRDRÁRS, s. This is the name which native valets (bearer) give to common drawers (underclothing). A friend (Gen. R. Maclagan, R.E.) has suggested the origin, which is doubtless "short drawers" in contradistinction to Long-drawers, or Pyjamas (qq.v.). A common bearer's pronunciation is sirdrāj; as a chest of drawers is also called 'Drāj kā almairā' (see ALMYRA).

1810.—"It is perhaps singular that I should have seen seerky in use among a group of gypsies in Essex. In India these itinerants, whose habits and characters correspond with this intolerable species of banditti, invariably shelter themselves under seerky."—Williamson, V.M. ii. 490.

[1832.—"... neat little huts of sirrakee, a reed or grass, resembling bright straw."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, i. 23.]

SIRRIS, s. Hind. siris, Skt. shirisha, shri, 'to break,' from the brittleness of its branches; the tree Acacia Lebbek, Benth., indigenous in S. India, the Sātpura range, Bengal, and the sub-Himālayan tract; cultivated in Egypt and elsewhere. A closely kindred sp., A. Julibrissin, Boivin, affords a specimen of scientific 'Hobson-Jobson'; the specific name is a corruption of Gulāb-reshm, 'silk-flower.'

1808.—"Quelques anneés après le mort de Dariyaî, des charpentiers ayant abattu un arbre de Seris, qui croissoit auprès de son tombeau, le coupèrent en plusieurs pièces pour l'employer à des constructions. Tout-à-coup une voix terrible se fit entendre, la terre se mit à trembler et le tronc de cet arbre se releva de lui-même. Les ouvriers épouvantés s'enfuirent, et l'arbre ne tarda pas à reverdir."—Afsōs, Arāyish-i-Mahfil, quoted by Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus. 88.

[c. 1890.—

"An' it fell when sirris-shaws were sere,

And the nichts were long and mirk."

R. Kipling, Departmental Ditties, The Fall of Jock Gillespie.]

c. A.D. 80.—"... Thither they are wont to despatch from Barygaza (Broach) to both these ports of Persia, great vessels with brass, and timbers, and beams of teak (ξύλων σαγαλίνων καὶ δοκῶν) ... and logs of shīsham (φαλάγγων σασαμίνων)...."—Periplus, Maris Erythr., cap. 36.

c. 545.—"These again are passed on from Sielediba to the marts on this side, such as Malé, where the pepper is grown, and Kalliana, whence are exported brass, and shīsham logs (σησαμίνα ξύλα), and other wares."—Cosmas, lib. xi.

? before 1200.—

"There are the wolf and the parrot, and the peacock, and the dove,

And the plant of Zinj, and al-sāsim, and pepper...."

Verses on India by Abu'l-ḍhal'i, the Sindi,

quoted by Kazvīnī, in Gildemeister, p. 218.

1810.—"Sissoo grows in most of the great forests, intermixed with saul.... This wood is extraordinarily hard and heavy, of a dark brown, inclining to a purple tint when polished."—Williamson, V.M. ii. 71.

1839.—"As I rode through the city one day I saw a considerable quantity of timber lying in an obscure street. On examining it I found it was shīsham, a wood of the most valuable kind, being not liable to the attacks of white ants."—Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, ed. 1851, p. 102.

SITTING-UP. A curious custom, in vogue at the Presidency towns more than a century ago, and the nature of which is indicated by the quotations. Was it of Dutch origin?

1777.—"Lady Impey sits up with Mrs. Hastings; vulgo toad-eating."—Ph. Francis's Diary, quoted in Busteed, Echoes of Old Calcutta, 124; [3rd ed. 125].

1780.—"When a young lady arrives at Madras, she must, in a few days afterwards sit up to receive company, attended by some beau or master of the ceremonies, which perhaps continues for a week, or until she has seen all the fair sex, and gentlemen of the settlement."—Munro's Narr., 56.

1795.—"You see how many good reasons there are against your scheme of my taking horse instantly, and hastening to throw myself at the lady's feet; as to the other, of proxy, I can only agree to it under certain conditions.... I am not to be forced to sit up, and receive male or female visitors.... I am not to be obliged to deliver my opinion on patterns for caps or petticoats for any lady...."—T. Munro to his Sister, in Life, i. 169.

1810.—"Among the several justly exploded ceremonies we may reckon that ... of 'Sitting up.'... This 'Sitting up,' as it was termed, generally took place at the house of some lady of rank or fortune, who, for three successive nights, threw open her mansion for the purpose of receiving all ... who chose to pay their respects to such ladies as might have recently arrived in the country."—Williamson, V.M. i. 113.

SITTRINGY, s. Hind. from Ar. shiṭranjī, shaṭranjī, and that from Pers. shaṭrang, 'chess,' which is again of Skt. origin, chaturanga, 'quadripartite' (see SADRAS). A carpet of coloured cotton, now usually made in stripes, but no doubt originally, as the name implies, in chequers.

1648.—"... Een andere soorte van slechte Tapijten die mẽ noemt Chitrenga."—Van Twist, 63.

1673.—"They pull off their Slippers, and after the usual Salams, seat themselves in Choultries, open to some Tank of purling Water; commonly spread with Carpets or Siturngees."—Fryer, 93.

[1688.—"2 citterengees."—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. cclxv.]

1785.—"To be sold by public auction ... the valuable effects of Warren Hastings, Esquire ... carpets and sittringees."—In Seton-Karr, i. 111.

In one or two passages we find the application of the name (Siwālikh) extending a good deal further south, as if reaching to the vicinity of Mālwā. Such instances we have grouped under (b). But it is possible that the early application (a) habitually extended thus far.

At a later date the name is applied to the Himālaya; either to the range in its whole extent, as in the passages from Chereffedin (Sharīffuddīn 'Ali of Yezd) and from Baber; sometimes with a possible limitation to that part of the mountains which overlooks the Punjab; or, as the quotation from Rennell indicates, with a distinction between the less lofty region nearest the plains, and the Alpine summits beyond, Siwālik applying to the former only.

The true Indian form of the name is, we doubt not, to be gathered from the occurrence, in a list of Indian national names, in the Vishnu Purāna, of the Saivālas. But of the position of these we can only say that the nations, with whom the context immediately associates them, seem to lie towards the western part of Upper India. (See Wilson's Works, Vishnu Purāna, ii. 175.) The popular derivation of Siwālik as given in several of the quotations below, is from sawalākh, 'One lākh and a quarter'; but this is of no more value than most popular etymologies.

We give numerous quotations to establish the old application of the term, because this has been somewhat confused in Elliot's extracts by the interpolated phrase 'Siwálik Hills,' where it is evident from Raverty's version of the Ṭabaḳāt-i-Nāṣirī that there is no such word as Hills in the original.

We have said that the special application of the term to the detached sub-Himālayan range is quite modern. It seems in fact due to that very eminent investigator in many branches of natural science, Dr. Hugh Falconer; at least we can find no trace of it before the use of the term by him in papers presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It is not previously used, so far as we can discover, even by Royle; nor is it known to Jacquemont, who was intimately associated with Royle and Cautley, at Sahāranpūr, very shortly before Falconer's arrival there. Jacquemont (Journal, ii. 11) calls the range: "la première chaine de montagnes que j'appellerai les montagnes de Dehra." The first occurrence that we can find is in a paper by Falconer on the 'Aptitude of the Himālayan Range for the Culture of the Tea Plant,' in vol. iii. of the J. As. Soc. Bengal, which we quote below. A year later, in the account of the Sivatherium fossil, by Falconer and Cautley, in the As. Researches, we have a fuller explanation of the use of the term Siwālik, and its alleged etymology.

It is probable that there may have been some real legendary connection of the hills in the vicinity with the name of Śiva. For in some of the old maps, such as that in Bernier's Travels, we find Siba given as the name of a province about Hurdwār; and the same name occurs in the same connection in the Mem. of the Emperor Jahāngīr (Elliot, vi. 382). [On the connection of Siva worship with the lower Himālaya, see Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, ii. 743.]

1118.—"Again he rebelled, and founded the fortress of Nāghawr, in the territory of Siwālikh, in the neighbourhood of Bīrah(?)."—Ṭabaḳāt-i-Nāṣirī, E.T. by Raverty, 110.

1192.—"The seat of government, Ajmīr, with the whole of the Siwālikh [territory], such as (?) Hānsi, Sursutī, and other tracts, were subjugated."—Ibid. 468-469.

1227.—"A year subsequent to this, in 624 H., he (Sultan Iyaltimish) marched against the fort of Manḍawar within the limits of the Siwālikh [territory], and its capture, likewise the Almighty God facilitated for him."—Ibid. 611.

c. 1247.—"... When the Sultan of Islam, Nāṣir-ud Dunyā-wa-ud-Dīn, ascended the throne of sovereignty ... after Malik Balban had come [to Court?] he, on several occasions made a request for Uchchah together with Multan. This was acquiesced in, under the understanding that the Siwālikh [territory] and Nāg-awr should be relinquished by him to other Maliks...."—Ibid. 781.

1253.—"When the new year came round, on Tuesday, the 1st of the month of Muḥarram, 651 H., command was given to Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am ... to proceed to his fiefs, the territory of Siwālikh and Hānsī."—Ibid. 693.

1257.—"Malik Balban ... withdrew (from Dehli), and by way of the Siwālikh [country], and with a slight retinue, less than 200 or 300 in number, returned to Uchchah again."—Ibid. 786.

1255.—"When the royal tent was pitched at Talh-pat, the [contingent] forces of the Siwālikh [districts], which were the fiefs of Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am, had been delayed ... (he) set out for Hānsī ... (and there) issued his mandate, so that, in the space of 14 days, the troops of the Siwālikh, Hānsī, Sursutī, Jīnd [Jhīnd], and Barwālah ... assembled...."—Ibid. 837.

1260.—"Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am resolved upon making a raid upon the Koh-pāyah [hill tracts of Mewāt] round about the capital, because in this ... there was a community of obdurate rebels, who, unceasingly, committed highway robbery, and plundered the property of Musalmāns ... and destruction of the villages in the districts of Harīānah, the Siwālikh, and Bhīānah, necessarily followed their outbreaks."—Ibid. 850.

1300-10.—"The Mughals having wasted the Siwálik, had moved some distance off. When they and their horses returned weary and thirsty to the river, the army of Islám, which had been waiting for them some days, caught them as they expected...."—Ziā-uddīn Barnī, in Elliot, iii. 199.

c. 1300.—"Of the cities on the shore the first is Sandabúr, then Faknúr, then the country of Manjarúr, then the country of (Fandarainá), then Jangli (Jinkali), then Kúlam.... After these comes the country of Sawálak, which comprises 125,000 cities and villages. After that comes Málwála" (but in some MSS. Málwá).—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 68. Rashīduddīn has got apparently much astray here, for he brings in the Siwālik territory at the far end of Malabar. But the mention of Mālwā as adjoining is a probable indication of the true position. (Elliot imagines here some allusion to the Maldives and Laccadives. All in that way that seems possible is that Rashīduddīn may have heard of the Maldives and made some jumble between them and Mālwā). And this is in a manner confirmed by the next quotation from a Portuguese writer who places the region inland from Guzerat.

1644.—"It confines ... on the east with certain kingdoms of heathen, which are called Saualacca prabatta (Skt. parvata), as much as to say 120,000 mountains."—Bocarro, MS.

1399.—"Le Détroit de Coupelé est situé au pied d'une montagne par où passe le Gange, et à quinze milles plus haut que ce Détroit il y a une pierre en forme de Vache, de laquelle sort la source de ce grand Fleuve; c'est la cause pour laquelle les Indous adorent cette pierre, et dans tous les pays circonvoisins jusques à une année de chemin, ils se tournent pour prier du côté de ce Détroit et de cette Vache de pierre.... Cependant on eut avis que dans la montagne de Soüalec, qui est une des plus considerables de l'Inde, et qui s'étend dans le deux tiers de ce grand Empire, il s'étoit assemblé un grand nombre d'Indiens qui cherchoient à nous faire insulte."—H. de Timur-Bec, par Chereffedin Ali d'Yezd (Fr. Tr. by Petis de la Croix), Delf, 1723, iii. ch. xxv.-xxvi.

1528.—"The northern range of hills has been mentioned ... after leaving Kashmîr, these hills contain innumerable tribes and states, pergannahs and countries, and extend all the way to Bengal and the shores of the Great Ocean.... The chief trade of the inhabitants of these hills is in musk-bags, the tails of the mountain cow, saffron, lead, and copper. The natives of Hind call these hills Sewâlik-Parbat. In the language of Hind Sawalâk means a lak and a quarter (or 125,000), and Parbat means a hill, that is, the 125,000 hills. On these hills the snow never melts, and from some parts of Hindustán, such as Lahore, Sehrend, and Sambal, it is seen white on them all the year round."—Baber, p. 313.

c. 1545.—"Sher Sháh's dying regrets.

"On being remonstrated with for giving way to low spirits, when he had done so much for the good of the people during his short reign, after earnest solicitation, he said, 'I have had three or four desires on my heart, which still remain without accomplishment.... One is, I wished to have depopulated the country of Roh, and to have transferred its inhabitants to the tract between the Niláb and Lahore, including the hills below Nindūna as far as the Siwálik.'"—Táríkh-Khán Jahán Lodí, in Elliot, v. 107-8. Nindūna was on Balnāth, a hill over the Jelam (compare Elliot, ii. 450-1).

c. 1547-8.—"After their defeat the Níázís took refuge with the Ghakkars, in the hill-country bordering on Kashmír. Islám Sháh ... during the space of two years was engaged in constant conflicts with the Ghakkars, whom he desired to subdue.... Skirting the hills he went thence to Múrín (?), and all the Rájás of the Siwálik presented themselves.... Parsurám, the Rájá of Gwálior, became a staunch servant of the King ... Gwálior is a hill, which is on the right hand towards the South, amongst the hills, as you go to Kángra and Nagarkot." (See NUGGURCOTE).—Táríkh-i-Dáúdí, in Elliot, iv. 493-4.

c. 1555.—"The Imperial forces encountered the Afghans near the Siwálik mountains, and gained a victory which elicited gracious marks of approval from the Emperor. Sikandar took refuge in the mountains and jungles.... Rájá Rám Chand, Rájá of Nagarkot, was the most renowned of all the Rájás of the hills, and he came and made his submission."—Ṭabaḳát-i-Akbarí, in Elliot, v. 248.

c. 1560.—"The Emperor (Akbar) then marched onwards towards the Siwálik hills, in pursuit of the Khán-Khánán. He reached the neighbourhood of Talwára, a district in the Siwálik, belonging to Rájá Gobind Chand.... A party of adventurous soldiers dashed forward into the hills, and surrounding the place put many of the defenders to the sword."—Ibid. 267.

c. 1570.—"Husain Khán ... set forth from Lucknow with the design of breaking down the idols, and demolishing the idol temples. For false reports of their unbounded treasures had come to his ears. He proceeded through Oudh, towards the Siwálik hills.... He then ravaged the whole country, as far as the Kasbah of Wajráíl, in the country of Rájá Ranka, a powerful zamíndár, and from that town to Ajmír which is his capital."—Badáúni, in Elliot, iv. 497.

1594-5.—"The force marched to the Siwálik hills, and the Bakhshí resolved to begin by attacking Jammú, one of the strongest forts of that country."—Akbar Náma, in Elliot, v. 125.

c. " "Rám Deo ... returned to Kanauj ... after that he marched into the Siwálik hills, and made all the zamíndárs tributary. The Rájá of Kamáún ... came out against Rám Deo and gave him battle."—Firishta's Introduction, in Elliot, vi. 561.

1793.—"Mr. Daniel, with a party, also visited Sirinagur the same year [1789]: ... It is situated in an exceedingly deep and very narrow valley; formed by Mount Sewalick,^[246] the northern boundary of Hindoostan, on the one side; and the vast range of snowy mountains of Himmaleh or Imaus, on the other; and from the report of the natives, it would appear, that the nearest part of the base of the latter (on which snow was actually falling in the month of May), was not more than 14 or 15 G. miles in direct distance to the N. or N.E. of Sirinagur town.

"In crossing the mountains of Sewalick, they met with vegetable productions, proper to the temperate climates."—Rennell's Mem., ed. 1793, pp. [368-369].

1834.—"On the flank of the great range there is a line of low hills, the Sewalik, which commence at Roopur, on the Satlej, and run down a long way to the south, skirting the great chain. In some places they run up to, and rise upon, the Himálayas; in others, as in this neighbourhood (Seháranpur), they are separated by an intermediate valley. Between the Jumna and Ganges they attain their greatest height, which Capt. Herbert estimates at 2,000 feet above the plains at their foot, or 3,000 above the sea. Seháranpur is about 1,000 feet above the sea. About 25 miles north are the Sewálik hills."—Falconer, in J.A.S.B. iii. 182.

1835.—"We have named the fossil Sivatherium from Siva the Hindu god, and θηρίον, bellua. The Siválik, or Sub-Himalayan range of hills, is considered, in the Hindu mythology, as the Lútiah or edge of the roof of Siva's dwelling on the Himálaya, and hence they are called the Siva-ala or Sib-ala, which by an easy transition of sound became the Sewálik of the English.

"The fossil has been discovered in a tract which may be included in the Sewálik range, and we have given the name of Sivatherium to it, to commemorate the remarkable formation, so rich in new animals. Another derivation of the name of the hills, as explained by the Mahant, or High Priest at Dehra, is as follows:—

"Sewálik, a corruption of Siva-wála, a name given to the tract of mountains between the Jumna and Ganges, from having been the residence of Iswara Siva and his son Ganes."—Falconer and Cautley, in As. Res., xix. p. 2.

1879.—"These fringing ranges of the later formations are known generally as the Sub-Himalayas. The most important being the Siwálik hills, a term especially applied to the hills south of the Deyra Dún, but frequently employed in a wider sense."—Medlicott and Blanford, Man. of the Geology of India, Intro. p. x.

[1899.—Even so late as this year the old inaccurate etymology of the word appears: "The term Shewalic is stated by one of the native historians to be a combination of two Hindee words 'sewa' and 'lae' (sic), the word 'sewa' signifying one and a quarter, and the word 'lae' being the term which expresses the number of one hundred thousand."—Thornhill, Haunts and Hobbies, 213.]

SKEEN, s. Tib. skyin. The Himalayan Ibex; (Capra Sibirica, Meyer). [See Blanford, Mammalia, 503.]

1676.—"Of three Theeves, two were executed and one made a Slave. We do not approve of putting any to death for theft, nor that any of our own nation should be made a Slave, a word that becomes not an Englishman's mouth."—The Court to Ft. St. Geo., March 7. In Notes and Exts. No. i. p. 18.

1682.—"... making also proclamation by beat of drum that if any Slave would run away from us he should be free, and liberty to go where they pleased."—Hedges, Diary, Oct. 14; [Hak. Soc. i. 38].

[ " "There being a great number of Slaves yearly exported from this place, to ye great grievance of many persons whose Children are very commonly stollen away from them, by those who are constant traders in this way, the Agent, &c., considering the Scandall that might accrue to ye Government, &c., the great losse that many parents may undergoe by such actions, have order'd that noe more Slaves be sent off the shoare again."—Pringle, Diary, Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. i. 70.]

1752.—"Sale of Slaves ... Rs. 10 : 1 : 3."—Among Items of Revenue. In Long, 34.

1637.—"We have taken into consideration the most effectual and speedy method for supplying our settlements upon the West Coast with slaves, and we have therefore fixed upon two ships for that purpose ... to proceed from hence to Madagascar to purchase as many as can be procured, and the said ships conveniently carry, who are to be delivered by the captains of those ships to our agents at Fort Marlborough at the rate of £15 a head."—Court's Letter of Dec. 8. In Long, 293.

1764.—"That as an inducement to the Commanders and Chief Mates to exert themselves in procuring as large a number of Slaves as the Ships can conveniently carry, and to encourage the Surgeons to take proper care of them in the passage, there is to be allowed 20 shillings for every slave shipped at Madagascar, to be divided, viz., 13s. 4d. a head to the Commander, and 6s. 8d. to the Chief Mate, also for every one delivered at Fort Marlborough the Commander is to be allowed the further sum of 6s. 8d. and the Chief Mate 3s. 4d. The Surgeon is likewise to be allowed 10s. for each slave landed at Fort Marlborough."—Court's Letter, Feb. 22. In Long, 366.

1778.—Mr. Busteed has given some curious extracts from the charge-sheet of the Calcutta Magistrate in this year, showing slaves and slave-girls, of Europeans, Portuguese, and Armenians, sent to the magistrate to be punished with the rattan for running away and such offences.—Echoes of Old Calcutta, 117 seqq. [Also see extracts from newspapers, &c., in Carey, Good Old Days, ii. 71 seqq.].

1782.—"On Monday the 29th inst. will be sold by auction ... a bay Buggy Horse, a Buggy and Harness ... some cut Diamonds, a quantity of China Sugarcandy ... a quantity of the best Danish Claret ... deliverable at Serampore; two Slave Girls about 6 years old; and a great variety of other articles."—India Gazette, July 27.

1785.—"Malver. Hair-dresser from Europe, proposes himself to the ladies of the settlement to dress hair daily, at two gold mohurs per month, in the latest fashion, with gauze flowers, &c. He will also instruct the slaves at a moderate price."—In Seton-Karr, i. 119. This was surely a piece of slang. Though we hear occasionally, in the advertisements of the time, of slave boys and girls, the domestic servants were not usually of that description.

1794.—"50 Rupees Reward for Discovery.

"Run off about four Weeks ago from a Gentleman in Bombay, A Malay Slave called Cambing or Rambing. He stole a Silk Purse, with 45 Venetians, and some Silver Buttons...."—Bombay Courier, Feb. 22.