1810.—"On the morn, however, I discovered it to be a large lizard, termed a blood-sucker."—Morton's Life of Leyden, 110.
[1813.—"The large seroor, or lacerta, commonly called the bloodsucker."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 110 (2nd ed.).]
BOBACHEE, s. A cook (male). This is an Anglo-Indian vulgarisation of bāwarchī, a term originally brought, according to Hammer, by the hordes of Chingiz Khan into Western Asia. At the Mongol Court the Bāwarchī was a high dignitary, 'Lord Sewer' or the like (see Hammer's Golden Horde, 235, 461). The late Prof. A. Schiefner, however, stated to us that he could not trace a Mongol origin for the word, which appears to be Or. Turki. [Platts derives it from P. bāwar, 'confidence.']
c. 1333.—"Chaque émir a un bâwerdjy, et lorsque la table a éte dressée, cet officier s'assied devant son maître ... le bâwerdjy coupe la viande en petits morceaux. Ces gens-là possèdent une grande habileté pour dépecer la viande."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 407.
c. 1590.—Bāwarchī is the word used for cook in the original of the Āīn (Blochmann's Eng. Tr. i. 58).
1810.—"... the dripping ... is returned to the meat by a bunch of feathers ... tied to the end of a short stick. This little neat, cleanly, and cheap dripping-ladle, answers admirably; it being in the power of the babachy to baste any part with great precision."—Williamson, V. M. i. 238.
1866.—
"And every night and morning
The bobachee shall kill
The sempiternal moorghee,
And we'll all have a grill."
The Dawk Bungalow, 223.
BOBACHEE CONNAH, s. H. Bāwarchī-khāna, 'Cook-house,' i.e. Kitchen; generally in a cottage detached from the residence of a European household.
[1829.—"In defiance of all Bawurchee-khana rules and regulations."—Or. Sport Mag., i. 118.]
BOBBERY, s. For the origin see BOBBERY-BOB. A noise, a disturbance, a row.
[1710.—"And beat with their hand on the mouth, making a certain noise, which we Portuguese call babare. Babare is a word composed of baba, 'a child' and are, an adverb implying 'to call.'"—Oriente Conquistado, vol ii.; Conquista, i. div. i. sec. 8.]
1830.—"When the band struck up (my Arab) was much frightened, made bobbery, set his foot in a hole and nearly pitched me."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 2nd ed., 106.
1866.—"But what is the meaning of all this bobbery?"—The Dawk Bungalow, p. 387.
Bobbery is used in 'pigeon English,' and of course a Chinese origin is found for it, viz. pa-pi, Cantonese, 'a noise.' [The idea that there is a similar English word (see 7 ser. N. & Q., v. 205, 271, 338, 415, 513) is rejected by the N.E.D.]
BOBBERY-BOB! interj. The Anglo-Indian colloquial representation of a common exclamation of Hindus when in surprise or grief—'Bāp-rē! or Bap-rē Bāp,' 'O Father!' (we have known a friend from north of Tweed whose ordinary interjection was 'My great-grandmother!'). Blumenroth's Philippine Vocabulary gives Nacú! = Madre mia, as a vulgar exclamation of admiration.
1782.—"Captain Cowe being again examined ... if he had any opportunity to make any observations concerning the execution of Nundcomar? said, he had; that he saw the whole except the immediate act of execution ... there were 8 or 10,000 people assembled; who at the moment the Rajah was turned off, dispersed suddenly, crying 'Ah-bauparee!' leaving nobody about the gallows but the Sheriff and his attendants, and a few European spectators. He explains the term Ah-baup-aree, to be an exclamation of the black people, upon the appearance of anything very alarming, and when they are in great pain."—Price's 2nd Letter to E. Burke, p. 5. In Tracts, vol. ii.
" "If an Hindoo was to see a house on fire, to receive a smart slap on the face, break a china basin, cut his finger, see two Europeans boxing, or a sparrow shot, he would call out Ah-baup-aree!"—From Report of Select Committee of H. of C., Ibid. pp. 9-10.
1834.—"They both hastened to the spot, where the man lay senseless, and the syce by his side muttering Bāpre bāpre."—The Baboo, i. 48.
1863-64.—"My men soon became aware of the unwelcome visitor, and raised the cry, 'A bear, a bear!'
"'Ahi! bap-re-bap! Oh, my father! go and drive him away,' said a timorous voice from under a blanket close by."—Lt.-Col. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, 142.
BOBBERY-PACK, s. A pack of hounds of different breeds, or (oftener) of no breed at all, wherewith young officers hunt jackals or the like; presumably so called from the noise and disturbance that such a pack are apt to raise. And hence a 'scratch pack' of any kind, as a 'scratch match' at cricket, &c. (See a quotation under BUNOW.)
1878.—"... on the mornings when the 'bobbera' pack went out, of which Macpherson was 'master,' and I 'whip,' we used to be up by 4 A.M."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 142.
The following occurs in a letter received from an old Indian by one of the authors, some years ago:
"What a Cabinet —— has put together!—a regular bobbery-pack."
BOCCA TIGRIS, n.p. The name applied to the estuary of the Canton River. It appears to be an inaccurate reproduction of the Portuguese Boca do Tigre, and that to be a rendering of the Chinese name Hu-mēn, "Tiger Gate." Hence in the second quotation Tigris is supposed to be the name of the river.
1747.—"At 8 o'clock we passed the Bog of Tygers, and at noon the Lyon's Tower."—A Voy. to the E. Indies in 1747 and 1748.
1770.—"The City of Canton is situated on the banks of the Tigris, a large river...."—Raynal (tr. 1771), ii. 258.
1782.—"... à sept lieues de la bouche du Tigre, on apperçoit la Tour du Lion."—Sonnerat, Voyage, ii. 234.
[1900.—"The launch was taken up the Canton River and abandoned near the Bocca Tigris (the Bogue)."—The Times, 29 Oct.]
BOCHA, s. H. bochā. A kind of chair-palankin formerly in use in Bengal, but now quite forgotten.
1810.—"Ladies are usually conveyed about Calcutta ... in a kind of palanquin called a bochah ... being a compound of our sedan chair with the body of a chariot.... I should have observed that most of the gentlemen residing at Calcutta ride in bochahs."—Williamson, V. M. i. 322.
BOGUE, n.p. This name is applied by seamen to the narrows at the mouth of the Canton River, and is a corruption of Boca. (See BOCCA TIGRIS.)
BOLIAH, BAULEAH, s. Beng. bāūlīa. A kind of light accommodation boat with a cabin, in use on the Bengal rivers. We do not find the word in any of the dictionaries. Ives, in the middle of the 18th century, describes it as a boat very long, but so narrow that only one man could sit in the breadth, though it carried a multitude of rowers. This is not the character of the boat so called now. [Buchanan Hamilton, writing about 1820, says: "The bhauliya is intended for the same purpose, [conveyance of passengers], and is about the same size as the Pansi (see PAUNCHWAY). It is sharp at both ends, rises at the ends less than the Pansi, and its tilt is placed in the middle, the rowers standing both before and behind the place of accommodation of passengers. On the Kosi, the Bhauliya is a large fishing-boat, carrying six or seven men." (Eastern India, iii. 345.) Grant (Rural Life, p. 5) gives a drawing and description of the modern boat.]
1757.—"To get two bolias, a Goordore, and 87 dandies from the Nazir."—Ives, 157.
1810.—"On one side the picturesque boats of the natives, with their floating huts; on the other the bolios and pleasure-boats of the English."—Maria Graham, 142.
1811.—"The extreme lightness of its construction gave it incredible ... speed. An example is cited of a Governor General who in his Bawaleea performed in 8 days the voyage from Lucknow to Calcutta, a distance of 400 marine leagues."—Solvyns, iii. The drawing represents a very light skiff, with only a small kiosque at the stern.
1824.—"We found two Bholiahs, or large row-boats, with convenient cabins...."—Heber, i. 26.
1834.—"Rivers's attention had been attracted by seeing a large beauliah in the act of swinging to the tide."—The Baboo, i. 14.
BOLTA, s. A turn of a rope; sea H. from Port. volta (Roebuck).
BOMBASA, n.p. The Island of Mombasa, off the E. African Coast, is so called in some old works. Bombāsī is used in Persia for a negro slave; see quotation.
1516.—"... another island, in which there is a city of the Moors called Bombaza, very large and beautiful."—Barbosa, 11. See also Colonial Papers under 1609, i. 188.
1883.—"... the Bombassi, or coal-black negro of the interior, being of much less price, and usually only used as a cook."—Wills, Modern Persia, 326.
BOMBAY, n.p. It has been alleged, often and positively (as in the quotations below from Fryer and Grose), that this name is an English corruption from the Portuguese Bombahia, 'good bay.' The grammar of the alleged etymon is bad, and the history is no better; for the name can be traced long before the Portuguese occupation, long before the arrival of the Portuguese in India. C. 1430, we find the islands of Mahim and Mumba-Devi, which united form the existing island of Bombay, held, along with Salsette, by a Hindu Rāī, who was tributary to the Mohammedan King of Guzerat. (See Rās Mālā, ii. 350); [ed. 1878, p. 270]. The same form reappears (1516) in Barbosa's Tana-Mayambu (p. 68), in the Estado da India under 1525, and (1563) in Garcia de Orta, who writes both Mombaim and Bombaim. The latter author, mentioning the excellence of the areca produced there, speaks of himself having had a grant of the island from the King of Portugal (see below). It is customarily called Bombaim on the earliest English Rupee coinage. (See under RUPEE.) The shrine of the goddess Mumba-Devī from whom the name is supposed to have been taken, stood on the Esplanade till the middle of the 17th century, when it was removed to its present site in the middle of what is now the most frequented part of the native town.
1507.—"Sultan Mahommed Bigarrah of Guzerat having carried an army against Chaiwal, in the year of the Hijra 913, in order to destroy the Europeans, he effected his designs against the towns of Bassai (see BASSEIN) and Manbai, and returned to his own capital...."—Mirat-i-Ahmedi (Bird's transl.), 214-15.
1508.—"The Viceroy quitted Dabul, passing by Chaul, where he did not care to go in, to avoid delay, and anchored at Bombaim, whence the people fled when they saw the fleet, and our men carried off many cows, and caught some blacks whom they found hiding in the woods, and of these they took away those that were good, and killed the rest."—Correa, i. 926.
1516.—"... a fortress of the before-named King (of Guzerat), called Tana-mayambu, and near it is a Moorish town, very pleasant, with many gardens ... a town of very great Moorish mosques, and temples of worship of the Gentiles ... it is likewise a sea port, but of little trade."—Barbosa, 69. The name here appears to combine, in a common oriental fashion, the name of the adjoining town of Thana (see TANA) and Bombay.
1525.—"E a Ilha de Mombayn, que no forall velho estaua em catorze mill e quatro cento fedeas ... j̃ xiiij. iiii.c fedeas.
"E os anos otros estaua arrendada por mill trezentos setenta e cinque pardaos ... j̃ iii.c lxxv. pardaos.
"Foy aforada a mestre Dioguo pelo dito governador, por mill quatro centos trinta dous pardaos méo ... j̃ iiij.c xxxij. pardaos méo."—Tombo do Estada da India, 160-161.
1531.—"The Governor at the island of Bombaim awaited the junction of the whole expedition, of which he made a muster, taking a roll from each captain, of the Portuguese soldiers and sailors and of the captive slaves who could fight and help, and of the number of musketeers, and of other people, such as servants. And all taken together he found in the whole fleet some 3560 soldiers (homens d'armas), counting captains and gentlemen; and some 1450 Portuguese seamen, with the pilots and masters; and some 2000 soldiers who were Malabars and Goa Canarines; and 8000 slaves fit to fight; and among these he found more than 3000 musketeers (espingardeiros), and 4000 country seamen who could row (marinheiros de terra remeiros), besides the mariners of the junks who were more than 800; and with married and single women, and people taking goods and provisions to sell, and menial servants, the whole together was more than 30,000 souls...."—Correa, iii. 392.
1538.—"The Isle of Bombay has on the south the waters of the bay which is called after it, and the island of Chaul; on the N. the island of Salsete; on the east Salsete also; and on the west the Indian Ocean. The land of this island is very low, and covered with great and beautiful groves of trees. There is much game, and abundance of meat and rice, and there is no memory of any scarcity. Nowadays it is called the island of Boa-Vida; a name given to it by Hector da Silveira, because when his fleet was cruising on this coast his soldiers had great refreshment and enjoyment there."—J. de Castro, Primeiro Roteiro, p. 81.
1552.—"... a small stream called Bate which runs into the Bay of Bombain, and which is regarded as the demarcation between the Kingdom of Guzurate and the Kingdom of Decan."—Barros, I. ix. 1.
1552.—"The Governor advanced against Bombaym on the 6th February, which was moreover the very day on which Ash Wednesday fell."—Couto, IV., v. 5.
1554.—"Item of Mazaguao 8500 fedeas.
"Item of Monbaym, 17,000 fedeas.
"Rents of the land surrendered by the King of Canbaya in 1543, from 1535 to 1548."—S. Botelho, Tombo, 139.
1563.—"... and better still is (that the areca) of Mombaim, an estate and island which the King our Lord has graciously granted me on perpetual lease."[43]—Garcia De Orta, f. 91v.
" "Servant. Sir, here is Simon Toscano, your tenant at Bombaim, who has brought this basket of mangoes for you to make a present to the Governor; and he says that when he has moored his vessel he will come here to put up."—Ibid. f. 134v.
1644.—"Description of the Port of Mombaym.... The Viceroy Conde de Linhares sent the 8 councillors to fortify this Bay, so that no European enemy should be able to enter. These Ministers visited the place, and were of opinion that the width (of the entrance) being so great, becoming even wider and more unobstructed further in, there was no place that you could fortify so as to defend the entrance...."—Bocarro, MS. f. 227.
1666.—"Ces Tchérons ... demeurent pour la plupart à Baroche, à Bambaye et à Amedabad."—Thevenot, v. 40.
" "De Bacaim à Bombaiim il y a six lieues."—Ibid. 248.
1673.—"December the Eighth we paid our Homage to the Union-flag flying on the Fort of Bombaim."—Fryer, 59.
" "Bombaim ... ventures furthest out into the Sea, making the Mouth of a spacious Bay, whence it has its Etymology; Bombaim, quasi Boon bay."—Ibid. 62.
1676.—"Since the present King of England married the Princess of Portugall, who had in Portion the famous Port of Bombeye ... they coin both Silver, Copper, and Tinn."—Tavernier, E. T., ii. 6.
1677.—"Quod dicta Insula de Bombaim, una cum dependentiis suis, nobis ab origine bonâ fide ex pacto (sicut oportuit) tradita non fuerit."—King Charles II. to the Viceroy L. de Mendoza Furtado, in Descn., &c. of the Port and Island of Bombay, 1724, p. 77.
1690.—"This Island has its Denomination from the Harbour, which ... was originally called Boon Bay, i.e. in the Portuguese Language, a Good Bay or Harbour."—Ovington, 129.
1711.—Lockyer declares it to be impossible, with all the Company's Strength and Art, to make Bombay "a Mart of great Business."—P. 83.
c. 1760.—"... one of the most commodious bays perhaps in the world, from which distinction it received the denomination of Bombay, by corruption from the Portuguese Buona-Bahia, though now usually written by them Bombaim."—Grose, i. 29.
1770.—"No man chose to settle in a country so unhealthy as to give rise to the proverb That at Bombay a man's life did not exceed two monsoons."—Raynal (E. T., 1777), i. 389.
1809.—"The largest pagoda in Bombay is in the Black Town.... It is dedicated to Momba Devee ... who by her images and attributes seems to be Parvati, the wife of Siva."—Maria Graham, 14.
BOMBAY BOX-WORK. This well-known manufacture, consisting in the decoration of boxes, desks, &c., with veneers of geometrical mosaic, somewhat after the fashion of Tunbridge ware, is said to have been introduced from Shiraz to Surat more than a century ago, and some 30 years later from Surat to Bombay. The veneers are formed by cementing together fine triangular prisms of ebony, ivory, green-stained ivory, stag's horn, and tin, so that the sections when sawn across form the required pattern, and such thin sections are then attached to the panels of the box with strong glue.
BOMBAY DUCK.—See BUMMELO.
BOMBAY MARINE. This was the title borne for many years by the meritorious but somewhat depressed service which in 1830 acquired the style of the "Indian Navy," and on 30th April, 1863, ceased to exist. The detachments of this force which took part in the China War (1841-42) were known to their brethren of the Royal Navy, under the temptation of alliteration, as the "Bombay Buccaneers." In their earliest employment against the pirates of Western India and the Persian Gulf, they had been known as "the Grab Service." But, no matter for these names, the history of this Navy is full of brilliant actions and services. We will quote two noble examples of public virtue:
(1) In July 1811, a squadron under Commodore John Hayes took two large junks issuing from Batavia, then under blockade. These were lawful prize, laden with Dutch property, valued at £600,000. But Hayes knew that such a capture would create great difficulties and embarrassments in the English trade at Canton, and he directed the release of this splendid prize.
(2) 30th June 1815, Lieut. Boyce in the brig 'Nautilus' (180 tons, carrying ten 18-pr. carronades, and four 9-prs.) encountered the U. S. sloop-of-war 'Peacock' (539 tons, carrying twenty 32-pr. carronades, and two long 18-prs.). After he had informed the American of the ratification of peace, Boyce was peremptorily ordered to haul down his colours, which he answered by a flat refusal. The 'Peacock' opened fire, and a short but brisk action followed, in which Boyce and his first lieutenant were shot down. The gallant Boyce had a special pension from the Company (£435 in all) and lived to his 93rd year to enjoy it.
We take the facts from the History of this Navy by one of its officers, Lieut. C. R. Low (i. 294), but he erroneously states the pension to have been granted by the U.S. Govt.
1780.—"The Hon. Company's schooner, Carinjar, with Lieut. Murry Commander, of the Bombay Marines, is going to Archin (sic, see ACHEEN) to meet the Ceres and the other Europe ships from Madrass, to put on board of them the St. Helena stores."—Hicky's Bengal Gazette, April 8th.
BONITO, s. A fish (Thynnus pelamys, Day) of the same family (Scombridae) as mackerel and tunny, very common in the Indian seas. The name is Port., and apparently is the adj. bonito, 'fine.'
c. 1610.—"On y pesche vne quantité admirable de gros poissons, de sept ou huit sortes, qui sont néantmoins quasi de mesme race et espece ... commes bonites, albachores, daurades, et autres."—Pyrard, i. 137.
1615.—"Bonitoes and albicores are in colour, shape, and taste much like to Mackerils, but grow to be very large."—Terry, in Purchas, ii. 1464.
c. 1620.—
"How many sail of well-mann'd ships
As the Bonito does the Flying-fish
Have we pursued...."
Beaum. & Flet., The Double Marriage, ii. 1.
c. 1760.—"The fish undoubtedly takes its name from relishing so well to the taste of the Portuguese ... that they call it Bonito, which answers in our tongue to delicious."—Grose, i. 5.
1764.—
"While on the yard-arm the harpooner sits,
Strikes the boneta, or the shark ensnares."—Grainger, B. ii.
1773.—"The Captain informed us he had named his ship the Bonnetta, out of gratitude to Providence; for once ... the ship in which he then sailed was becalmed for five weeks, and during all that time, numbers of the fish Bonnetta swam close to her, and were caught for food; he resolved therefore that the ship he should next get should be called the Bonnetta."—Boswell, Journal of a Tour, &c., under Oct. 16, 1773.
BONZE, s. A term long applied by Europeans in China to the Buddhist clergy, but originating with early visitors to Japan. Its origin is however not quite clear. The Chinese Fán-sēng, 'a religious person' is in Japanese bonzi or bonzô; but Köppen prefers fă-sze, 'Teacher of the Law,' pron. in Japanese bo-zi (Die Rel. des Buddha, i. 321, and also Schott's Zur Litt. des Chin. Buddhismus, 1873, p. 46). It will be seen that some of the old quotations favour one, and some the other, of these sources. On the other hand, Bandhya (for Skt. vandya, 'to whom worship or reverence is due, very reverend') seems to be applied in Nepal to the Buddhist clergy, and Hodgson considers the Japanese bonze (bonzô?) traceable to this. (Essays, 1874, p. 63.) The same word, as bandhe or bande, is in Tibetan similarly applied.—(See Jaeschke's Dict., p. 365.) The word first occurs in Jorge Alvarez's account of Japan, and next, a little later, in the letters of St. Francis Xavier. Cocks in his Diary uses forms approaching boze.
1549.—"I find the common secular people here less impure and more obedient to reason than their priests, whom they call bonzos."—Letter of St. F. Xavier, in Coleridge's Life, ii. 238.
1552.—"Erubescunt enim, et incredibiliter confunduntur Bonzii, ubi male cohaerere, ac pugnare inter sese ea, quae docent, palam ostenditur."—Scti. Fr. Xaverii Epistt. V. xvii., ed. 1667.
1572.—"... sacerdotes ... qui ipsorum linguâ Bonzii appellantur."—E. Acosta, 58.
1585.—"They have amongst them (in Japan) many priests of their idols whom they call Bonsos, of the which there be great convents."—Parkes's Tr. of Mendoza (1589), ii. 300.
1590.—"This doctrine doe all they embrace, which are in China called Cen, but with us at Iapon are named Bonzi."—An Exct. Treatise of the Kingd. of China, &c., Hakl. ii. 580.
c. 1606.—"Capt. Saris has Bonzees."—Purchas, i. 374.
1618.—"And their is 300 boze (or pagon pristes) have alowance and mentaynance for eaver to pray for his sole, in the same sorte as munkes and fryres use to doe amongst the Roman papistes."—Cocks's Diary, ii. 75; [in i. 117, bose]; bosses (i. 143).
[1676.—"It is estimated that there are in this country (Siam) more than 200,000 priests called Bonzes."—Tavernier, ed. Ball, ii. 293.]
1727.—"... or perhaps make him fadge in a China bonzee in his Calendar, under the name of a Christian Saint."—A. Hamilton, i. 253.
1794-7.—
"Alike to me encas'd in Grecian bronze
Koran or Vulgate, Veda, Priest, or Bonze."
Pursuits of Literature, 6th ed., p. 335.
c. 1814.—
"While Fum deals in Mandarins, Bonzes, Bohea—
Peers, Bishops, and Punch, Hum—are sacred to thee."
T. Moore, Hum and Fum.
[(1) BORA, BOORA, s. Beng. bhada, a kind of cargo-boat used in the rivers of Bengal.
[1675.—"About noone overtook the eight boraes."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. ccxxxvii.
[1680.—"The boora ... being a very floaty light boat, rowinge with 20 to 30 Owars, these carry Salt Peeter and other goods from Hugly downewards, and some trade to Dacca with salt; they also serve for tow boats for ye ships bound up or downe ye river."—Ibid. ii. 15.]
(2) BORA s. H. and Guz. bohrā and bohorā, which H. H. Wilson refers to the Skt. vyavahārī, 'a trader, or man of affairs,' from which are formed the ordinary H. words byoharā, byohariyā (and a Guzerati form which comes very near bohorā). This is confirmed by the quotation from Nurullah below, but it is not quite certain. Dr. John Wilson (see below) gives an Arabic derivation which we have been unable to verify. [There can be no reasonable doubt that this is incorrect.]
There are two classes of Bohrās belonging to different Mohammedan sects, and different in habit of life.
1. The Shī'a Bohrās, who are essentially townspeople, and especially congregate in Surat, Burhanpur, Ujjain, &c. They are those best known far and wide by the name, and are usually devoted to trading and money-lending. Their original seat was in Guzerat, and they are most numerous there, and in the Bombay territory generally, but are also to be found in various parts of Central India and the N.-W. Provinces, [where they are all Hindus]. The word in Bombay is often used as synonymous with pedlar or boxwallah. They are generally well-to-do people, keeping very cleanly and comfortable houses. [See an account of them in Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 470 seqq. 2nd ed.] These Bohras appear to form one of the numerous Shī'a sects, akin in character to, and apparently of the same origin as, the Ismāīlīyah (or Assassins of the Middle Ages), and claim as their original head and doctor in India one Ya'ḳūb, who emigrated from Egypt, and landed in Cambay A.D. 1137. But the chief seat of the doctrine is alleged to have been in Yemen, till that country was conquered by the Turks in 1538. A large exodus of the sect to India then took place. Like the Ismāīlīs they attach a divine character to their Mullah or chief Pontiff, who now resides at Surat. They are guided by him in all things, and they pay him a percentage on their profits. But there are several sectarian subdivisions: Dāūdi Bohrās, Sulaimāni Bohrās, &c. [See Forbes, Rās Mālā, ed. 1878, p. 264 seqq.]
2. The Sunni Bohrās. These are very numerous in the Northern Concan and Guzerat. They are essentially peasants, sturdy, thrifty, and excellent cultivators, retaining much of Hindu habit; and are, though they have dropped caste distinctions, very exclusive and "denominational" (as the Bombay Gazetteer expresses it). Exceptionally, at Pattan, in Baroda State, there is a rich and thriving community of trading Bohrās of the Sunni section; they have no intercourse with their Shī'a namesakes.
The history of the Bohrās is still very obscure; nor does it seem ascertained whether the two sections were originally one. Some things indicate that the Shī'a Bohrās may be, in accordance with their tradition, in some considerable part of foreign descent, and that the Sunni Bohrās, who are unquestionably of Hindu descent, may have been native converts of the foreign immigrants, afterwards forcibly brought over to Sunnism by the Guzerat Sultans. But all this must be said with much reserve. The history is worthy of investigation.
The quotation from Ibn Batuta, which refers to Gandari on the Baroda river, south of Cambay, alludes most probably to the Bohrās, and may perhaps, though not necessarily, indicate an origin for the name different from either of those suggested.
c. 1343.—"When we arrived at Ḳandahār ... we received a visit from the principal Musulmans dwelling at his (the pagan King's) Capital, such as the Children of Khojah Bohrah, among whom was the Nākhoda Ibrahīm, who had 6 vessels belonging to him."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 58.
c. 1620.—Nurullah of Shuster, quoted by Colebrooke, speaks of this class as having been converted to Islam 300 years before. He says also: "Most of them subsist by commerce and mechanical trades; as is indicated by the name Bohrah, which signifies 'merchant' in the dialect of Gujerat."—In As. Res., vii. 338.
1673.—"... The rest (of the Mohammedans) are adopted under the name of the Province or Kingdom they are born in, as Mogul ... or Schisms they have made, as Bilhim, Jemottee, and the lowest of all is Borrah."—Fryer, 93.
c. 1780.—"Among the rest was the whole of the property of a certain Muhammad Mokrim, a man of the Bohra tribe, the Chief of all the merchants, and the owner of three or four merchant ships."—H. of Hydur Naik, 383.
1810.—"The Borahs are an inferior set of travelling merchants. The inside of a Borah's box is like that of an English country shop, spelling-books, prayer-books, lavender water, eau de luce, soap, tapes, scissors, knives, needles, and thread make but a small part of the variety."—Maria Graham, 33.
1825.—"The Boras (at Broach) in general are unpopular, and held in the same estimation for parsimony that the Jews are in England."—Heber, ed. 1844, ii. 119; also see 72.
1853.—"I had the pleasure of baptizing Ismail Ibraim, the first Bohorá who, as far as we know, has yet embraced Christianity in India.... He appears thoroughly divorced from Muhammad, and from 'Ali the son-in-law of Muhammad, whom the Bohorás or Initiated, according to the meaning of the Arabic word, from which the name is derived, esteem as an improvement on his father-in-law, having a higher degree of inspiration, which has in good measure, as they imagine, manifested itself among his successors, recognised by the Bohoras and by the Ansariyah, Ismaeliyah, Drus, and Metawileh of Syria...."—Letter of Dr. John Wilson, in Life, p. 456.
1863.—"... India, between which and the north-east coast of Africa, a considerable trade is carried on, chiefly by Borah merchants of Guzerat and Cutch."—Badger, Introd. to Varthema, Hak. Soc. xlix.
BORNEO, n.p. This name, as applied to the great Island in its entirety, is taken from that of the capital town of the chief Malay State existing on it when it became known to Europeans, Bruné, Burné, Brunai, or Burnai, still existing and known as Brunei.
1516.—"In this island much camphor for eating is gathered, and the Indians value it highly.... This island is called Borney."—Barbosa, 203-4.
1521.—"The two ships departed thence, and running among many islands came on one which contained much cinnamon of the finest kind. And then again running among many islands they came to the Island of Borneo, where in the harbour they found many junks belonging to merchants from all the parts about Malacca, who make a great mart in that Borneo."—Correa, ii. 631.
1584.—"Camphora from Brimeo (misreading probably for Bruneo) neare to China."—Barret, in Hakl. ii. 412.
[1610.—"Bornelaya are with white and black quarls, like checkers, such as Polingknytsy are."—Danvers, Letters, i. 72.]
The cloth called Bornelaya perhaps took its name from this island.
[ " "There is brimstone, pepper, Bournesh camphor."—Danvers, Letters, i. 79.]
1614.—In Sainsbury, i. 313 [and in Foster, Letters, ii. 94], it is written Burnea.
1727.—"The great island of Bornew or Borneo, the largest except California in the known world."—A. Hamilton, ii. 44.
BORO-BODOR, or -BUDUR, n.p. The name of a great Buddhistic monument of Indian character in the district of Kadū in Java; one of the most remarkable in the world. It is a quasi-pyramidal structure occupying the summit of a hill, which apparently forms the core of the building. It is quadrangular in plan, the sides, however, broken by successive projections; each side of the basement, 406 feet. Including the basement, it rises in six successive terraces, four of them forming corridors, the sides of which are panelled with bas-reliefs, which Mr. Fergusson calculated would, if extended in a single line, cover three miles of ground. These represent scenes in the life of Sakya Muni, scenes from the Jātakas, or pre-existences of Sakya, and other series of Buddhistic groups. Above the corridors the structure becomes circular, rising in three shallower stages, bordered with small dagobas (72 in number), and a large dagoba crowns the whole. The 72 dagobas are hollow, built in a kind of stone lattice, and each contains, or has contained, within, a stone Buddha in the usual attitude. In niches of the corridors also are numerous Buddhas larger than life, and about 400 in number. Mr. Fergusson concludes from various data that this wonderful structure must date from A.D. 650 to 800.
This monument is not mentioned in Valentijn's great History of the Dutch Indies (1726), nor does its name ever seem to have reached Europe till Sir Stamford Raffles, the British Lieut.-Governor of Java, visited the district in January 1814. The structure was then covered with soil and vegetation, even with trees of considerable size. Raffles caused it to be cleared, and drawings and measurements to be made. His History of Java, and Crawfurd's Hist. of the Indian Archipelago, made it known to the world. The Dutch Government, in 1874, published a great collection of illustrative plates, with a descriptive text.
The meaning of the name by which this monument is known in the neighbourhood has been much debated. Raffles writes it Bóro Bódo [Hist. of Java, 2nd ed., ii. 30 seqq.]. [Crawfurd, Descr. Dict. (s.v.), says: "Boro is, in Javanese, the name of a kind of fish-trap, and budor may possibly be a corruption of the Sanscrit buda, 'old.'"] The most probable interpretation, and accepted by Friedrich and other scholars of weight, is that of 'Myriad Buddhas.' This would be in some analogy to another famous Buddhist monument in a neighbouring district, at Brambánan, which is called Chandi Sewu, or the "Thousand Temples," though the number has been really 238.
BOSH, s. and interj. This is alleged to be taken from the Turkish bosh, signifying "empty, vain, useless, void of sense, meaning or utility" (Redhouse's Dict.). But we have not been able to trace its history or first appearance in English. [According to the N.E.D. the word seems to have come into use about 1834 under the influence of Morier's novels, Ayesha, Hajji Baba, &c. For various speculations on its origin see 5 ser. N. & Q. iii. 114, 173, 257.
[1843.—"The people flatter the Envoy into the belief that the tumult is Bash (nothing)."—Lady Sale, Journal, 47.]
BOSMÁN, BOCHMÁN, s. Boatswain. Lascar's H. (Roebuck).
BOTICKEER, s. Port. botiqueiro. A shop or stall-keeper. (See BOUTIQUE.)
1567.—"Item, pareceo que ... os botiqueiros não tenhão as buticas apertas nos dias de festa, senão depois la messa da terça."—Decree 31 of Council of Goa, in Archiv. Port. Orient., fasc. 4.
1727.—"... he past all over, and was forced to relieve the poor Botickeers or Shopkeepers, who before could pay him Taxes."—A. Hamilton, i. 268.
BO TREE, s. The name given in Ceylon to the Pipal tree (see PEEPUL) as reverenced by the Buddhists; Singh. bo-gās. See in Emerson Tennent (Ceylon, ii. 632 seqq.), a chronological series of notices of the Bo-tree from B.C. 288 to A.D. 1739.
1675.—"Of their (the Veddas') worship there is little to tell, except that like the Cingaleze, they set round the high trees Bogas, which our people call Pagod-trees, with a stone base and put lamps upon it."—Ryklof Van Goens, in Valentijn (Ceylon), 209.
1681.—"I shall mention but one Tree more as famous and highly set by as any of the rest, if not more so, tho' it bear no fruit, the benefit consisting chiefly in the Holiness of it. This tree they call Bogahah; we the God-tree."—Knox, 18.
BOTTLE-TREE, s. Qu. Adansonia digitata, or 'baobab'? Its aspect is somewhat suggestive of the name, but we have not been able to ascertain. [It has also been suggested that it refers to the Babool, on which the Baya, often builds its nest. "These are formed in a very ingenious manner, by long grass woven together in the shape of a bottle." Forbes, Or. Mem., 2nd ed., i. 33.)]
1880.—"Look at this prisoner slumbering peacefully under the suggestive bottle-tree."—Ali Baba, 153.
[BOUND-HEDGE, s. A corruption of boundary-hedge, and applied in old military writers to the thick plantation of bamboo or prickly-pear which used to surround native forts.
1792.—"A Bound Hedge, formed of a wide belt of thorny plants (at Seringapatam)."—Wilks, Historical Sketches, iii. 217.]
BOUTIQUE, s. A common word in Ceylon and the Madras Presidency (to which it is now peculiar) for a small native shop or booth: Port. butica or boteca. From Bluteau (Suppt.) it would seem that the use of butica was peculiar to Portuguese India.
[1548.—Buticas. See quotation under SIND.]
1554.—"... nas quaes buticas ninguem pode vender senão os que se concertam com o Rendeiro."—Botelho, Tombo do Estado da India, 50.
c. 1561.—"The Malabars who sold in the botecas."—Correa, i. 2, 267.
1739.—"That there are many battecas built close under the Town-wall."—Remarks on Fortfns. of Fort St. George, in Wheeler, iii. 188.
1742.—In a grant of this date the word appears as Butteca.—Selections from Records of S. Arcot District, ii. 114.
1767.—"Mr. Russell, as Collector-General, begs leave to represent to the Board that of late years the Street by the river side ... has been greatly encroached upon by a number of golahs, little straw huts, and boutiques...."—In Long, 501.
1772.—"... a Boutique merchant having died the 12th inst., his widow was desirous of being burnt with his body."—Papers relating to E. I. Affairs, 1821, p. 268.
1780.—"You must know that Mrs. Henpeck ... is a great buyer of Bargains, so that she will often go out to the Europe Shops and the Boutiques, and lay out 5 or 600 Rupees in articles that we have not the least occasion for."—India Gazette, Dec. 9.
1782.—"For Sale at No. 18 of the range Botiques to the northward of Lyon's Buildings, where musters (q.v.) may be seen...." India Gazette, Oct. 12.
1834.—"The boutiques are ranged along both sides of the street."—Chitty, Ceylon Gazetteer, 172.
BOWLA, s. A portmanteau. H. bāolā, from Port. baul, and bahu, 'a trunk.'
BOWLY, BOWRY, s. H. bāolī, and bāorī, Mahr. bāvaḍi. C. P. Brown (Zillah Dict. s.v.) says it is the Telegu bāviḍi; bāvī and bāviḍi, = 'well.' This is doubtless the same word, but in all its forms it is probably connected with Skt. vavra, 'a hole, a well,' or with vāpi, 'an oblong reservoir, a pool or lake.' There is also in Singhalese væva, 'a lake or pond,' and in inscriptions vaviya. There is again Maldivian weu, 'a well,' which comes near the Guzerati forms mentioned below. A great and deep rectangular well (or tank dug down to the springs), furnished with a descent to the water by means of long flights of steps, and generally with landings and loggie where travellers may rest in the shade. This kind of structure, almost peculiar to Western and Central India, though occasionally met with in Northern India also, is a favourite object of private native munificence, and though chiefly beneath the level of the ground, is often made the subject of most effective architecture. Some of the finest specimens are in Guzerat, where other forms of the word appear to be wāo and wāīn. One of the most splendid of these structures is that at Asārwa in the suburbs of Ahmedabad, known as the Well of Dhāī (or 'the Nurse') Harīr, built in 1485 by a lady of the household of Sultan Mohammed Bigara (that famous 'Prince of Cambay' celebrated by Butler—see under CAMBAY), at a cost of 3 lakhs of rupees. There is an elaborate model of a great Guzerati bāolī in the Indian Museum at S. Kensington.
We have seen in the suburbs of Palermo a regular bāolī, excavated in the tufaceous rock that covers the plain. It was said to have been made at the expense of an ancestor of the present proprietor (Count Ranchibile) to employ people in a time of scarcity.