c. 1730.—"Kokonor is also called Tzongombo, which means blue lake.... The Tibetans pretend that this lake belongs to them, and that the limits of Tibet adjoin those of the town of Shilin or Shilingh."—P. Orazio della Penna, E.T. in Markham's Tibet, 2d ed. 314.

1774.—"The natives of Kashmir, who like the Jews of Europe, or the Armenians in the Turkish Empire, scatter themselves over the Eastern kingdoms of Asia ... have formed extensive establishments at Lhasa and all the principal towns in the country. Their agents, stationed on the coast of Coromandel, in Bengal, Benares, Nepal, and Kashmir, furnish them with the commodities of these different countries, which they dispose of in Tibet, or forward to their associates at Seling, a town on the borders of China."—Bogle's Narrative, in Markham's Tibet, 124.

1793.—"... it is certain that the product of their looms (i.e. of Tibet and Nepaul) is as inconsiderable in quantity as it is insignificant in quality. The Joos (read TOOS) or flannel procured from the former, were it really a fabric of Tibet, would perhaps be admitted as an exception to the latter part of this observation; but the fact is that it is made at Siling, a place situated on the western borders of China."—Kirkpatrick's Acc. of Nepaul (1811), p. 134.

1854.—"List of Chinese Articles brought to India.... Siling, a soft and silky woollen of two kinds—1. Shirún. 2. Gorún."—Cunningham's Ladak, 241-2.

1862.—"Sling is a 'Pushmina' (fine wool) cloth, manufactured of goat-wool, taken from Karashaihr and Urumchi, and other districts of Turkish China, in a Chinese town called Sling."—Punjab Trade Report, App. p. ccxxix.

1871.—"There were two Calmucks at Yârkand, who had belonged to the suite of the Chinese Ambân.... Their own home they say is Zilm" (qu. Zilin?) "a country and town distant 1½ month's journey from either Aksoo or Khoten, and at an equal distance in point of time from Lhassa.... Zilm possesses manufactures of carpets, horse-trappings, pen-holders, &c.... This account is confirmed by the fact that articles such as those described are imported occasionally into Ladák, under the name of Zilm or Zirm goods.

"Now if the town of Zilm is six weeks journey from either Lhassa or Aksoo, its position may be guessed at."—Shaw, Visits to High Tartary, 38.

SLOTH, s. In the usual way of transferring names which belong to other regions, this name is sometimes applied in S. India to the Lemur (Loris gracilis, Jerdon).

SNAKE-STONE, s. This is a term applied to a substance, the application of which to the part where a snake-bite has taken effect, is supposed to draw out the poison and render it innocuous. Such applications are made in various parts of the Old and New Worlds. The substances which have this reputation are usually of a porous kind, and when they have been chemically examined have proved to be made of charred bone, or the like. There is an article in the 13th vol. of the Asiatic Researches by Dr. J. Davy, entitled An Analysis of the Snake-Stone, in which the results of the examination of three different kinds, all obtained from Sir Alex. Johnstone, Chief Justice of Ceylon, is given. (1) The first kind was of round or oval form, black or brown in the middle, white towards the circumference, polished and somewhat lustrous, and pretty enough to be sometimes worn as a neck ornament; easily cut with a knife, but not scratched by the nail. When breathed on it emitted an earthy smell, and when applied to the tongue, or other moist surface, it adhered firmly. This kind proved to be of bone partially calcined. (2) We give below a quotation regarding the second kind. (3) The third was apparently a bezoar, (q.v.), rather than a snake-stone. There is another article in the As. Res. xvi. 382 seqq. by Captain J. D. Herbert, on Zehr Mohereh, or Snake-Stone. Two kinds are described which were sold under the name given (Zahr muhra, where zahr is 'poison,' muhra, 'a kind of polished shell,' 'a bead,' applied to a species of bezoar). Both of these were mineral, and not of the class we are treating of.

c. 1666.—"C'est dans cette Ville de Diu que se font les Pierres de Cobra si renommées: elles sont composées de racines qu'on brûle, et dont on amasse les cendres pour les mettre avec une sorte de terre qu'ils ont, et les brûler encore une fois avec cette terre; et après cela on en fait la pâte dont ces Pierres sont formées.... Il faut faire sortir avec une éguille, un peu de sang de la plaie, y appliquer la Pierre, et l'y laisser jusqu'à ce qu'elle tombe d'elle même."—Thevenot, v. 97.

1673.—"Here are also those Elephant Legged St. Thomeans, which the unbiassed Enquirers will tell you chances to them two ways: By the Venom of a certain Snake, by which the Jaugies (see JOGEE) or Pilgrims furnish them with a Factitious Stone (which we call a snake-stone), and is a Counter-poyson of all deadly Bites; if it stick, it attracts the Poyson; and put into Milk it recovers itself again, leaving its virulency therein, discovered by its Greenness."—Fryer, 53.

c. 1676.—"There is the Serpent's stone not to be forgot, about the bigness of a double (doubloon?); and some are almost oval, thick in the middle and thin about the sides. The Indians report that it is bred in the head of certain Serpents. But I rather take it to be a story of the Idoloter's Priests, and that the Stone is rather a composition of certain Drugs.... If the Person bit be not much wounded, the place must be incis'd; and the Stone being appli'd thereto, will not fall off till it has drawn all the poison to it: To cleanse it you must steep it in Womans-milk, or for want of that, in Cows-milk.... There are two ways to try whether the Serpent-stone be true or false. The first is, by putting the Stone in your mouth, for there it will give a leap, and fix to the Palate. The other is by putting it in a glass full of water; for if the Stone be true, the water will fall a boyling, and rise in little bubbles...."—Tavernier, E.T., Pt. ii. 155; [ed. Ball, ii. 152]. Tavernier also speaks of another snake-stone alleged to be found behind the hood of the Cobra: "This Stone being rubb'd against another Stone, yields a slime, which being drank in water," &c. &c.—Ibid.

1690.—"The thing which he carried ... is a Specific against the Poison of Snakes ... and therefore obtained the name of Snake-stone. It is a small artificial Stone.... The Composition of it is Ashes of burnt Roots, mixt with a kind of Earth, which is found at Diu...."—Ovington, 260-261.

1712.—"Pedra de Cobra: ita dictus lapis, vocabulo a Lusitanis imposito, adversus viperarum morsus praestat auxilium, externè applicatus. In serpente, quod vulgò credunt, non invenitur, sed arte secretâ fabricatur à Brahmanis. Pro dextro et felici usu, oportet adesse geminos, ut cum primus veneno saturatus vulnusculo decidit, alter surrogari illico in locum possit.... Quo ipso feror, ut istis lapidibus nihil efficaciæ inesse credam, nisi quam actuali frigiditate suâ, vel absorbendo praestant."—Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. 395-7.

1772.—"Being returned to Roode-Zand, the much celebrated Snake-stone (Slange-steen) was shown to me, which few of the farmers here could afford to purchase, it being sold at a high price, and held in great esteem. It is imported from the Indies, especially from Malabar, and cost several, frequently 10 or 12, rix dollars. It is round, and convex on one side, of a black colour, with a pale ash-grey speck in the middle, and tubulated with very minute pores.... When it is applied to any part that has been bitten by a serpent, it sticks fast to the wound, and extracts the poison; as soon as it is saturated, it falls off of itself...."—Thunberg, Travels, E.T. i. 155 (A Journey into Caffraria).

1796.—"Of the remedies to which cures of venomous bites are often ascribed in India, some are certainly not less frivolous than those employed in Europe for the bite of the viper; yet to infer from thence that the effects of the poison cannot be very dangerous, would not be more rational than to ascribe the recovery of a person bitten by a Cobra de Capello, to the application of a snake-stone, or to the words muttered over the patient by a Bramin."—Patrick Russell, Account of Indian Serpents, 77.

1820.—"Another kind of snake-stone ... was a small oval body, smooth and shining, externally black, internally grey; it had no earthy smell when breathed on, and had no absorbent or adhesive power. By the person who presented it to Sir Alexander Johnstone it was much valued, and for adequate reason if true, 'it had saved the lives of four men.'"—Dr. Davy, in As. Res. xiii. 318.

1860.—"The use of the Pamboo-Kaloo, or snake-stone, as a remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the Singhalese by the itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from the Coast of Coromandel; and more than one well-authenticated instance of its successful application has been told to me by persons who had been eye-witnesses."... (These follow.) "... As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the application of which I have been describing, to Mr. Faraday, and he has communicated to me, as the result of his analysis, his belief that it is 'a piece of charred bone which has been filled with blood, perhaps several times, and then charred again.'... The probability is, that the animal charcoal, when instantaneously applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the system...."—Tennent, Ceylon, i. 197-200.

1861.—"'Have you been bitten?' 'Yes, Sahib,' he replied, calmly; 'the last snake was a vicious one, and it has bitten me. But there is no danger,' he added, extracting from the recesses of his mysterious bag a small piece of white stone. This he wetted, and applied to the wound, to which it seemed to adhere ... he apparently suffered no ... material hurt. I was thus effectually convinced that snake-charming is a real art, and not merely clever conjuring, as I had previously imagined. These so-called snake stones are well known throughout India."—Lt.-Col. T. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, 91-92.

1872.—"With reference to the snake-stones, which, when applied to the bites, are said to absorb and suck out the poison, ... I have only to say that I believe they are perfectly powerless to produce any such effect ... when we reflect on the quantity of poison, and the force and depth with and to which it is injected ... and the extreme rapidity with which it is hurried along in the vascular system to the nerve centres, I think it is obvious that the application of one of these stones can be of little use in a real bite of a deadly snake, and that a belief in their efficacy is a dangerous delusion."—Fayrer, Thanatophidia of India, pp. 38, 40.

[1880.—"It is stated that in the pouch-like throat appendages of the older birds (adjutants), the fang of a snake is sometimes to be found. This, if rubbed above the place where a poisonous snake has bitten a man, is supposed to prevent the venom spreading to the vital parts of the body. Again, it is believed that a so-called 'snake-stone' is contained within the head of the adjutant. This, if applied to a snake-bite, attaches itself to the punctures, and extracts all the venom...."—Ball, Jungle Life, 82.]

SNEAKER, s. A large cup (or small basin) with a saucer and cover. The native servants call it sīnīgar. We had guessed that it was perhaps formed in some way from ṣīnī in the sense of 'china-ware,' or from the same word, used in Ar. and Pers., in the sense of 'a salver' (see CHINA, s.). But we have since seen that the word is not only in Grose's Lexicon Balatronicum, with the explanation 'a small bowl,' but is also in Todd: 'A small vessel of drink.' A sneaker of punch is a term still used in several places for a small bowl; and in fact it occurs in the Spectator and other works of the 18th century. So the word is of genuine English origin; no doubt of a semi-slang kind.

1714.—"Our little burlesque authors, who are the delight of ordinary readers, generally abound in these pert phrases, which have in them more vivacity than wit. I lately saw an instance of this kind of writing, which gave me so truly an idea of it, that I could not forbear begging a copy of the letter....

"Past 2 o'clock and

a frosty morning.

"Dear Jack,

"I have just left the Right Worshipful and his myrmidons about a sneaker of 5 gallons. The whole magistracy was pretty well disguised before I gave them the slip."

The Spectator, No. 616.

1715.—

"Hugh Peters is making

A sneaker within

For Luther, Buchanan,

John Knox, and Calvin;

And when they have toss'd off

A brace of full bowls,

You'll swear you ne'er met

With honester souls."

Bp. Burnett's Descent into Hell.

In Political Ballads of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Annotated by W. W. Wilkins, 1860, ii. 172.

1743.—"Wild ... then retired to his seat of contemplation, a night-cellar, where, without a single farthing in his pocket, he called for a sneaker of punch, and placing himself on a bench by himself, he softly vented the following soliloquy."—Fielding, Jonathan Wild, Bk. ii. ch. iv.

1772.—"He received us with great cordiality, and entreated us all, five in number, to be seated in a bungalow, where there were only two broken chairs. This compliment we could not accept of; he then ordered five sneakers of a mixture which he denominated punch."—Letter in Forbes, Or. Mem. iv. 217.

[SNOW RUPEE, s. A term in use in S. India, which is an excellent example of a corruption of the 'Hobson-Jobson' type. It is an Anglo-Indian corruption of the Tel. tsanauvu, 'authority, currency.']

SOFALA, n.p. Ar. Sufāla, a district and town of the East African coast, the most remote settlement towards the south made upon that coast by the Arabs. The town is in S. Lat. 20° 10′, more that 2° south of the Zambesi delta. The territory was famous in old days for the gold produced in the interior, and also for iron. It was not visited by V. da Gama either in going or returning.

c. 1150.—"This section embraces the description of the remainder of the country of Sofāla.... The inhabitants are poor, miserable, and without resources to support them except iron; of this metal there are numerous mines in the mountains of Sofāla. The people of the islands ... come hither for iron, which they carry to the continent and islands of India ... for although there is iron in the islands and in the mines of that country, it does not equal the iron of Sofāla."—Edrisi, i. 65.

c. 1220.—"Sofāla is the most remote known city in the country of the Zenj ... wares are carried to them, and left by the merchants who then go away, and coming again find that the natives have laid down the price [they are willing to give] for every article beside it.... Sofālī gold is well-known among the Zenj merchants."—Yāḳūt, Mu'jam al-Buldān, s.v.

In his article on the gold country, Yāḳūt describes the kind of dumb trade in which the natives decline to come face to face with the merchants at greater length. It is a practice that has been ascribed to a great variety of uncivilized races; e.g. in various parts of Africa; in the extreme north of Europe and of Asia; in the Clove Islands; to the Veddas of Ceylon, to the Poliars of Malabar, and (by Pliny, surely under some mistake) to the Seres or Chinese. See on this subject a note in Marco Polo, Bk. iv. ch. 21; a note by Mr. De B. Priaulx, in J. R. As. Soc., xviii. 348 (in which several references are erroneously printed); Tennent's Ceylon, i. 593 seqq.; Rawlinson's Herodotus, under Bk. iv. ch. 196.

c. 1330.—"Sofāla is situated in the country of the Zenj. According to the author of the Kánún, the inhabitants are Muslim. Ibn Ṡayd says that their chief means of subsistence are the extraction of gold and of iron, and that their clothes are of leopard-skin."—Abulfeda, Fr. Tr. i. 222.

 "  "A merchant told me that the town of Sofāla is a half month's march distant from Culua (Quiloa), and that from Sofāla to Yūfī (Nūfī) ... is a month's march. From Yūfī they bring gold-dust to Sofāla."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 192-3.

1499.—"Coming to Mozambique (i.e. Vasco and his squadron on their return) they did not desire to go in because there was no need, so they kept their course, and being off the coast of Çofala, the pilots warned the officers that they should be alert and ready to strike sail, and at night they should keep their course, with little sail set, and a good look-out, for just thereabouts there was a river belonging to a place called Çofala, whence there sometimes issued a tremendous squall, which tore up trees and carried cattle and all into the sea...."—Correa, Lendas, i. 134-135.

1516.—"... at xviii. leagues from them there is a river, which is not very large, whereon is a town of the Moors called Sofala, close to which town the King of Portugal has a fort. These Moors established themselves there a long time ago on account of the great trade in gold, which they carry on with the Gentiles of the mainland."—Barbosa, 4.

1523.—"Item—that as regards all the ships and goods of the said Realm of Urmuz, and its ports and vassals, they shall be secure by land and by sea, and they shall be as free to navigate where they please as vassals of the King our lord, save only that they shall not navigate inside the Strait of Mecca, nor yet to Çoffala and the ports of that coast, as that is forbidden by the King our lord...."—Treaty of Dom Duarto de Menezes, with the King of Ormuz, in Botelho, Tombo, 80.

1553.—"Vasco da Gama ... was afraid that there was some gulf running far inland, from which he would not be able to get out. And this apprehension made him so careful to keep well from the shore that he passed without even seeing the town of Çofala, so famous in these parts for the quantity of gold which the Moors procured there from the Blacks of the country by trade...."—Barros, I. iv. 3.

1572.—

"... Fizemos desta costa algum desvio

Deitando para o pégo toda a armada:

Porque, ventando Noto manso e frio,

Não nos apanhasse a agua da enseada,

Que a costa faz alli daquella banda,

Donde a rica Sofala o ouro manda."

Camões, v. 73.

By Burton:

"off from the coast-line for a spell we stood,

till deep blue water 'neath our kelsons lay;

for frigid Notus, in his fainty mood,

was fain to drive us leewards to the Bay

made in that quarter by the crookèd shore,

whence rich Sofála sendeth golden ore."

1665.—

"Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind,

And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm

Of Congo, and Angola farthest south."

Paradise Lost, xi. 399 seqq.

Milton, it may be noticed, misplaces the accent, reading Sófala.

1727.—"Between Delagoa and Mosambique is a dangerous Sea-coast, it was formerly known by the names of Suffola and Cuama, but now by the Portuguese, who know that country best, is called Sena."—A. Hamilton, i. 8 [ed. 1744].

SOLA, vulg. SOLAR, s. This is properly Hind. sholā, corrupted by the Bengālī inability to utter the shibboleth, to solā, and often again into solar by English people, led astray by the usual "striving after meaning." Sholā is the name of the plant Aeschynomene aspera, L. (N.O. Leguminosae), and is particularly applied to the light pith of that plant, from which the light thick Sola topees, or pith hats, are made. The material is also used to pad the roofs of palankins, as a protection against the sun's power, and for various minor purposes, e.g. for slips of tinder, for making models, &c. The word, until its wide diffusion within the last 45 years, was peculiar to the Bengal Presidency. In the Deccan the thing is called bhenḍ, Mahr. bhenḍa, and in Tamil neṭṭi, ['breaking with a crackle.'] Solar hats are now often advertised in London. [Hats made of elder pith were used in S. Europe in the early 16th century. In Albert Dürer's Diary in the Netherlands (1520-21) we find: "Also Tomasin has given me a plaited hat of elder-pith" (Mrs. Heaton, Life of Albrecht Dürer, 269). Miss Eden, in 1839, speaks of Europeans wearing "broad white feather hats to keep off the sun" (Up the Country, ii. 56). Illustrations of the various shapes of Sola hats used in Bengal about 1854 will be found in Grant, Rural Life in Bengal, 105 seq.]

1836.—"I stopped at a fisherman's, to look at the curiously-shaped floats he used for his very large and heavy fishing-nets; each float was formed of eight pieces of sholā, tied together by the ends.... When this light and spongy pith is wetted, it can be cut into thin layers, which pasted together are formed into hats; Chinese paper appears to be made of the same material."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, ii. 100.

1872.—"In a moment the flint gave out a spark of fire, which fell into the solá; the sulphur match was applied; and an earthen lamp...."—Govinda Samanta, i. 10.

1878.—"My solar topee (pith hat) was whisked away during the struggle."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 164.

1885.—"I have slipped a pair of galoshes over my ordinary walking-boots; and, with my solar topee (or sun helmet) on, have ridden through a mile of deserted streets and thronged bazaars, in a grilling sunshine."—A Professional Visit in Persia, St. James's Gazette, March 9.

[SOMBA, SOMBAY, s. A present. Malay sambah-an.

[1614.—"Sombay or presents."—Foster, Letters, ii. 112.

[1615.—"... concluded rather than pay the great Somba of eight hundred reals."—Ibid. iv. 43.]

SOMBRERO, s. Port. sumbreiro. In England we now understand by this word a broad-brimmed hat; but in older writers it is used for an umbrella. Summerhead is a name in the Bombay Arsenal (as M.-Gen. Keatinge tells me) for a great umbrella. I make no doubt that it is a corruption (by 'striving after meaning') of Sombreiro, and it is a capital example of Hobson-Jobson.

1503.—"And the next day the Captain-Major before daylight embarked armed with all his people in the boats, and the King (of Cochin) in his boats which they call tones (see DONEY) ... and in the tone of the King went his Sombreiros, which are made of straw, of a diameter of 4 palms, mounted on very long canes, some 3 or 4 fathoms in height. These are used for state ceremonial, showing that the King is there in person, as it were his pennon or royal banner, for no other lord in his realm may carry the like."—Correa, i. 378.

1516.—"And besides the page I speak of who carries the sword, they take another page who carries a sombreiro with a stand to shade his master, and keep the rain off him; and some of these are of silk stuff finely wrought, with many fringes of gold, and set with stones and seed pearl...."—Barbosa, Lisbon ed. 298.

1553.—"At this time Dom Jorge discerned a great body of men coming towards where he was standing, and amid them a sombreiro on a lofty staff, covering the head of a man on horseback, by which token he knew it to be some noble person. This sombreiro is a fashion in India coming from China, and among the Chinese no one may use it but a gentleman, for it is a token of nobility, which we may describe as a one-handed pallium (having regard to those which we use to see carried by four, at the reception of some great King or Prince on his entrance into a city)...."—Barros, III. x. 9. Then follows a minute description of the sombreiro or umbrella.

[1599.—"... a great broad sombrero or shadow in their hands to defend them in the Summer from the Sunne, and in the Winter from the Raine."—Hakl. II. i. 261 (Stanf. Dict.).

[1602.—In his character of D. Pedro Mascarenhas, the Viceroy, Couto says he was anxious to change certain habits of the Portuguese in India: "One of these was to forbid the tall sombreiros for warding off the rain and sun, to relieve men of the expence of paying those who carried them; he himself did not have one, but used a woollen umbrella with small cords (?), which they called for many years Mascarenhas. Afterwards finding the sun intolerable and the rain immoderate, he permitted the use of tall umbrellas, on the condition that private slaves should bear them, to save the wages of the Hindus who carry them, and are called boys de sombreiro (see BOY)."—Couto, Dec. VII. Bk. i. ch. 12.]

c. 1630.—"Betwixt towns men usually travel in Chariots drawn by Oxen, but in Towns upon Palamkeens, and with Sombreros de Sol over them."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1665, p. 46.

1657.—"A costé du cheval il y a un homme qui esvente Wistnou, afin qu'il ne reçoive point d'incommodité soit par les mouches, ou par la chaleur; et à chaque costé on porte deux Zombreiros, afin que le Soleil ne luise pas sur luy...."—Abr. Roger, Fr. Tr. ed. 1670, p. 223.

1673.—"None but the Emperor have a Sumbrero among the Moguls."—Fryer, 36.

1727.—"The Portuguese ladies ... sent to beg the Favour that he would pick them out some lusty Dutch men to carry their Palenqueens and Somereras or Umbrellas."—A. Hamilton, i. 338; [ed. 1744, i. 340].

1768-71.—"Close behind it, followed the heir-apparent, on foot, under a sambreel, or sunshade, of state."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 87.

[1845.—"No open umbrellas or summer-heads allowed to pass through the gates."—Public Notice on Gates of Bombay Town, in Douglas, Glimpses of Old Bombay, 86.]

SOMBRERO, CHANNEL OF THE, n.p. The channel between the northern part of the Nicobar group, and the southern part embracing the Great and Little Nicobar, has had this name since the early Portuguese days. The origin of the name is given by A. Hamilton below. The indications in C. Federici and Hamilton are probably not accurate. They do not agree with those given by Horsburgh.

1566.—"Si passa per il canale di Nicubar, ouero per quello del Sombrero, li quali son per mezzo l'isola di Sumatra...."—C. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 391.

1727.—"The Islands off this Part of the Coast are the Nicobars.... The northernmost Cluster is low, and are called the Carnicubars.... The middle Cluster is fine champain Ground, and all but one, well inhabited. They are called the Somerera Islands, because on the South End of the largest Island, is an Hill that resembleth the top of an Umbrella or Somerera."—A. Hamilton, ii. 68 [ed. 1744].

1843.—"Sombrero Channel, bounded on the north by the Islands of Katchull and Noncowry, and by Merve or Passage Island on the South side, is very safe and about seven leagues wide."—Horsburgh, ed. 1843, ii. 59-60.

SONAPARANTA, n.p. This is a quasi-classical name, of Indian origin, used by the Burmese Court in State documents and formal enumerations of the style of the King, to indicate the central part of his dominions; Skt. Suvarna (Pali Sona) prānta (or perhaps aparānta), 'golden frontier-land,' or something like that. There can be little doubt that it is a survival of the names which gave origin to the Chrysē of the Greeks. And it is notable, that the same series of titles embraces Tambadīpa ('Copper Island' or Region) which is also represented by the Chalcitis of Ptolemy. [Also see J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 103.]

(Ancient).—"There were two brothers resident in the country called Sunáparanta, merchants who went to trade with 500 wagons...."—Legends of Gotama Buddha, in Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, 259.

1636.—"All comprised within the great districts ... of Tsa-Koo, Tsa-lan, Laygain, Phoung-len, Kalé, and Thoung-thwot is constituted the Kingdom of Thuna-paranta. All within the great districts of Pagán, Ava, Penya, and Myen-Zain, is constituted the Kingdom of Tampadewa...." (&c.)—From an Inscription at the Great Pagoda of Khoug-Mhoo-dau, near Ava; from the MS. Journal of Major H. Burney, accompanying a Letter from him, dated 11th September, 1830, in the Foreign Office, Calcutta. Burney adds: "The Ministers told me that by Thunaparanta they mean all the countries to the northward of Ava, and by Tampadewa all to the southward. But this inscription shows that the Ministers themselves do not exactly understand what countries are comprised in Thunaparanta and Tāmpa-dewa."

1767.—"The King despotick; of great Merit, of great Power, Lord of the Countries Thonaprondah, Tompdevah, and Camboja, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Buraghmagh (Burma), the Kingdom of Siam and Hughen (?), and the Kingdom of Cassay."—Letter from the King of Burma, in Dalrymple, Or. Rep. i. 106.

1795.—"The Lord of Earth and Air, the Monarch of extensive Countries, the Sovereign of the Kingdoms of Sonahparindá, Tombadeva ... etc...."—Letter from the King to Sir John Shore, in Symes, 487.

1855.—"His great, glorious and most excellent Majesty, who reigns over the Kingdoms of Thunaparanta, Tampadeeva, and all the great umbrella-wearing chiefs of the Eastern countries, the King of the Rising Sun, Lord of the Celestial Elephants, and Master of many white Elephants, and great Chief of Righteousness...."—King's Letter to the Governor-General (Lord Dalhousie), Oct. 2, 1855.

SONTHALS, n.p. Properly Santāls, [the name being said to come from a place called Saont, now Silda in Mednipur, where the tribe remained for a long time (Dalton, Descr. Eth. 210-11)]. The name of a non-Aryan people belonging to the Kolarian class, extensively settled in the hilly country to the west of the Hoogly R. and to the south of Bhāgalpur, from which they extended to Balasore at interval, sometimes in considerable masses, but more generally much scattered. The territory in which they are chiefly settled is now formed into a separate district called Santāl Parganas, and sometimes Santalia. Their settlement in this tract is, however, quite modern; they have emigrated thither from the S.W. In Dr. F. Buchanan's statistical account of Bhāgalpur and its Hill people the Santāls are not mentioned. The earliest mention of this tribe that we have found is in Mr. Sutherland's Report on the Hill People, which is printed in the Appendix to Long. No date is given there, but we learn from Mr. Man's book, quoted below, that the date is 1817. [The word is, however, much older than this. Forbes (Or. Mem. ii. 374 seq.) gives an account taken from Lord Teignmouth of witch tests among the Soontaar.

[1798.—"... amongst a wild and unlettered tribe, denominated Soontaar, who have reduced the detection and trial of persons suspected of witchcraft to a system."—As. Res. iv. 359.]

1817.—"For several years many of the industrious tribes called Sonthurs have established themselves in these forests, and have been clearing and bringing into cultivation large tracts of lands...."—Sutherland's Report, quoted in Long, 569.

1867.—"This system, indicated and proposed by Mr. Eden,[247] was carried out in its integrity under Mr. George Yule, C.B., by whose able management, with Messrs. Robinson and Wood as his deputies, the Sonthals were raised from misery, dull despair, and deadly hatred of the government, to a pitch of prosperity which, to my knowledge, has never been equalled in any other part of India under the British rule. The Regulation Courts, with their horde of leeches in the shape of badly paid, and corrupt Amlah (Omlah) and pettifogging Mooktears, were abolished, and in their place a Number of active English gentlemen, termed Assistant Commissioners, and nominated by Mr. Yule, were set down among the Sonthals, with a Code of Regulations drawn up by that gentleman, the pith of which may be summed up as follows:—

"'To have no medium between the Sonthal and the Hakim, i.e. Assistant Commissioner.

"'To patiently hear any complaint made by the Sonthal from his own mouth, without any written petition or charge whatever, and without any Amlah or Court at the time.

"'To carry out all criminal work by the aid of the villagers themselves, who were to bring in the accused, with the witnesses, to the Hakim, who should immediately attend to their statements, and punish them, if found guilty, according to the tenor of the law.'

"These were some of the most important of the golden rules carried out by men who recognised the responsibility of their situation; and with an adored chief, in the shape of Yule, for their ruler, whose firm, judicious, and gentlemanly conduct made them work with willing hearts, their endeavours were crowned with a success which far exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine...."—Sonthalia and the Sonthals, by E. G. Man, Barrister-at-Law, &c. Calcutta, 1867, pp. 125-127.

SOODRA, SOODER, s. Skt. śudra, [usually derived from root śuć, 'to be afflicted,' but probably of non-Aryan origin]. The (theoretical) Fourth Caste of the Hindus. In South India, there being no claimants of the 2nd or 3rd classes, the highest castes among the (so-called) Śudras come next after the Brahmans in social rank, and śudra is a note of respect, not of the contrary as in Northern India.

1630.—"The third Tribe or Cast, called the Shudderies."—Lord, Display, &c., ch. xii.

1651.—"La quatrième lignée est celle des Soudraes; elle est composée du commun peuple: cette lignée a sous soy beaucoup et diverses familles, dont une chacune prétend surpasser l'autre...."—Abr. Roger, Fr. ed. 1670, p. 8.

[c. 1665.—"The fourth caste is called Charados or Soudra."—Tavernier, ed. Ball, ii. 184.

[1667.—"... and fourthly, the tribe of Seydra, or artisans and labourers."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 325.]

1674.—"The ... Chudrer (these are the Nayres)."—Faria y Sousa, ii. 710.

1717.—"The Brahmens and the Tschuddirers are the proper persons to satisfy your Enquiries."—Phillips, An Account of the Religion, &c., 14.

1858.—"Such of the Aborigines as yet remained were formed into a fourth class, the Çudra, a class which has no rights, but only duties."—Whitney, Or. and Ling. Studies, ii. 6.

1867.—"A Brahman does not stand aloof from a Soudra with a keener pride than a Greek Christian shows towards a Copt."—Dixon, New America, 7th ed. i. 276.

SOOJEE, SOOJY, s. Hind. sūjī, [which comes probably from Skt. śuci, 'pure']; a word curiously misinterpreted "the coarser part of pounded wheat") by the usually accurate Shakespear. It is, in fact, the fine flour, made from the heart of the wheat, used in India to make bread for European tables. It is prepared by grinding between two millstones which are not in close contact. [Sūjī "is a granular meal obtained by moistening the grain overnight, then grinding it. The fine flour passes through a coarse sieve, leaving the Suji and bran above. The latter is got rid of by winnowing, and the round, granular meal or Suji, composed of the harder pieces of the grain, remains" (Watt, Econ. Dict. VI. pt. iv. 167).] It is the semolina of Italy. Bread made from this was called in Low Latin simella; Germ. Semmelbrödchen, and old English simnel-cakes. A kind of porridge made with soojee is often called soojee simply. (See ROLONG.)

1810.—"Bread is not made of flour, but of the heart of the wheat, which is very fine, ground into what is called soojy.... Soojy is frequently boiled into 'stirabout' for breakfast, and eaten with milk, salt, and butter; though some of the more zealous may be seen to moisten it with porter."—Williamson, V.M. ii. 135-136.

1878.—"Sujee flour, ground coarse, and water."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 213.

SOORKY, s. Pounded brick used to mix with lime to form a hydraulic mortar. Hind. from Pers. surkhī, 'red-stuff.'

c. 1770.—"The terrace roofs and floors of the rooms are laid with fine pulverized stones, which they call zurkee; these are mixed up with lime-water, and an inferior kind of molasses, and in a short time grow as hard and as smooth, as if the whole were one large stone."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 514.

1777.—"The inquiry verified the information. We found a large group of miserable objects confined by order of Mr. Mills; some were simply so; some under sentence from him to beat Salkey."—Report of Impey and others, quoted in Stephen's Nuncomar and Impey, ii. 201.

1784.—"One lack of 9-inch bricks, and about 1400 maunds of soorky."—Notifn. in Seton-Karr, i. 34; see also ii. 15.

1811.—"The road from Calcutta to Baracpore ... like all the Bengal roads it is paved with bricks, with a layer of sulky, or broken bricks over them."—Solvyns, Les Hindous, iii. The word is misused as well as miswritten here. The substance in question is khoa (q.v.).

SOORMA, s. Hind. from Pers. surma. Sulphuret of antimony, used for the purpose of darkening the eyes, kuḥl of the Arabs, the stimmi and stibium of the ancients. With this Jezebel "painted her eyes" (2 Kings, ix. 30; Jeremiah, iv. 30 R.V.) "With it, I believe, is often confounded the sulphuret of lead, which in N. India is called soormee (ee is the feminine termination in Hindust.), and used as a substitute for the former: a mistake not of recent occurrence only, as Sprengel says, 'Distinguit vero Plinius marem a feminâ'" (Royle, on Ant. of Hindu Medicine, 100). [See Watt, Econ. Dict. i. 271.]

[1766.—"The powder is called by them surma; which they pretend refreshes and cools the eye, besides exciting its lustre, by the ambient blackness."—Grose, 2nd ed. ii. 142.]

[1829.—"Soorma, or the oxide of antimony, is found on the western frontier."—Tod, Annals, Calcutta reprint, i. 13.

[1832.—"Sulmah—A prepared permanent black dye, from antimony...."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, ii. 72.]

SOOSIE, s. Hind. from Pers. sūsī. Some kind of silk cloth, but we know not what kind. [Sir G. Birdwood (Industr. Arts, 246) defines sūsīs as "fine-coloured cloths, made chiefly at Battala and Sialkote, striped in the direction of the warp with silk, or cotton lines of a different colour, the cloth being called dokanni [dokhānī], 'in two stripes' if the stripe has two lines, if three, tinkanni [tīnkhānī], and so on." In the Punjab it is 'a striped stuff used for women's trousers. This is made of fine thread, and is one of the fabrics in which English thread is now largely used' (Francis, Mon. on Cotton Manufactures, 7). A silk fabric of the same name is made in the N.W.P., where it is classed as a variety of chārkhāna, or check (Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 93). Forbes Watson (Textile Manufactures, 85) speaks of Sousee as chiefly employed for trousering, being a mixture of cotton and silk. The word seems to derive its origin from Susa, the Biblical Shushan, the capital of Susiana or Elam, and from the time of Darius I. the chief residence of the Achaemenian kings. There is ample evidence to show that fabrics from Babylon were largely exported in early times. Such was perhaps the "Babylonish garment" found at Ai (Josh. vii. 21), which the R.V. marg. translates as a "mantle of Shinar". This a writer in Smith's Dict. of the Bible calls "robes trimmed with valuable furs, or the skins themselves ornamented with embroidery" (i. 452). These Babylonian fabrics have been often described (see Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, 537; Maspero, Dawn of Civ., 470, 758; Encycl. Bibl. ii. 1286 seq.; Frazer, Pausanias, iii. 545 seq.). An early reference to this old trade in costly cloths will be found in the quotation from the Periplus under CHINA, which has been discussed by Sir H. Yule (Introd. to Gill, River of Golden Sand, ed. 1883, p. 88 seq.). This Sūsī cloth appears in a log of 1746 as Soacie, and was known to the Portuguese in 1550 as Soajes (J. R. As. Soc., Jan. 1900, p. 158.)]